Recruitment

(re-KROOT-ment) Also called Loudness Recruitment. A naturally-occurring result of having a sensorineural hearing loss. When you have recruitment, you experience an abnormally greater increase in the sensation of loudness in response to increased sound intensity as compared with a normal ear. Sounds become just perceptible at a louder level due to your hearing loss, although the level at which sounds become uncomfortable loud usually remains the same as it is for people with normal hearing. Loudness recruitment does not indicate decreased tolerance to sound as such.  In practical terms, if you have recruitment, you perceive certain louder sounds as becoming too loud too fast. For example, if the sound level is doubled, you may experience it,not as just twice as loud, but maybe 3 or 4 or 6 times as loud, depending on the degree of your hearing loss. Recruitment is one result of the greatly-reduced dynamic range found in people with sensorineural hearing losses. For a more in-depth understanding of recruitment, read this article.