As part of the experiment Stephanie’s ears were blocked using soft foam plugs imitating a moderate hearing loss. It meant Stephanie, who’s 23 and lives in Stratford, was not totally deaf and could still hear a little, particularly if people were close to her when speaking.

"This kind of impairment is common", said Toby Sutton, audiologist at Specsavers in Coventry.

He said: “Typically this is the sort of loss we come across when people come to us. Everything seems deadened and clarity is affected more than volume. It means people can hear but it is muffled and indistinct. But even with this sort of impairment some people are reluctant to see anyone about their hearing and have a test.

“People tend to ignore it and try and get by, avoiding situations which might be tricky because of their lack of hearing.

“It can have a big impact on their lives, both at work and socially. But by having a hearing test we can find out the extent of the problem and hopefully help resolve it.”

During her experiment, Stephanie found herself frustrated at not being able to hear people call her name and mishearing words. She became conscious of her own voice as it was very loud in her own head, and muffled, and found herself avoiding her customers at work as she knew she'd struggle to hear them. She said: "It made me wonder if I really did have a hearing problem how hard would it be to work effectively and would I deliberately avoid ‘social situations’ and so miss out?"

Read the full diary at the Coventry Telegraph.