Hearing Loss - Serious Question
 

I had a hearing test as part of my preparation to return to the US. In the past year, I have had a significant hearing loss in my right ear. In the midrange, I had a 70. Last year, I had a 15. The Army will be doing further tests when I get back to the US.

Does anyone know if this is severe enough for a hearing aid? I'm worried about my career

Drink water, changer your socks, you'll be fine.

Seriously, my BN CDR in Iraq and a Drill Sergeant that I worked with both had hearing aids. I"m not sure how to read that test. I don't think it's a show stopper.

Just out of curiosity, you shoot right handed?

Right handed shooter, but I always wear plugs. This was my first tour in an AVN BN. I'm thinking aircraft noise. Of course, it could be old age. I'm older than the parents of most of my troops

Sarge, if the hearing loss is sudden it might be worth having a general health check-up. I was reading the other day that sudden hearing loss can be a sign of oncoming stroke. I don't know how sure they are about it, it may just be early research (didn't read the article that closely)

Hearing loss runs in my family. Either that, or working on oil rigs causes hearing loss.

I can't get anyone to take my hearing problems seriously.
I was tested as a child - four or five times - but they don't seem to want to test me as an adult.

I might go to a hearing aid place, just so I have a record of the fact that it is an issue. Or not of course, but just a general comparison with collegaues suggest I don't have good hearing.

Good luck Sarge.

We always use CC for the hearing impaired or subtitles in English at my house.

My oldest son is deaf so I've dealt with hearing loss, tests, hearing aids, research, etc for 21+ years.

In a standard hearing test (un-aided/no hearing aid), a reading of 70 is a severe hearing loss. The reading basically is your threshold, a threshold being the smallest of detectable sound.
For people with "normal" hearing, the threshold is 35db, basically conversational speech.

A hearing aid would be a huge benefit to you with this type of loss. Did your Dr. say whether it was a conductive loss or a sensory-neural loss? One being inner ear and the other being nerve.

70 is severe, but was it at 1 test point? 2? 3? I'm guessing the test you had was just the basic, run them all through to check for problems, kind of screening.
It might indicate an ongoing problem, or may be an anomaly, but more comprehensive testing and diagnosis is clearly warranted.

I've had hearing aids in both ears since 1980, and while it's a major pain in the ass, especially with telephones, I do function. Of course I miss some of the "sweet nothings", but having a volume control does have advantages.;)

This was the standard screening we have at the beginning and end of every tour. I won't know more till I see the doctors back in the US next week. It weighs heavy on my mind because it has been a fight for me to stay in the military the past couple of years due to "declining health/old age".

Interesting:

Turn your sound down before trying - you can always go back.

I lost sound at 4 mins 30
I am very surprised it wasn't sooner - but then I don't have trouble with isolated sounds, only distinguishing between them in noisy places.

SORRY SARGE, IS THAT BETTER?

what?

Whenever I can't hear what someone said, I usually just pretend I did.

YOU SAY YOU'RE PREGNANT? GIRL OR BOY?

That's a good one HLJ

SG: Thanks for the clip. I hear nothing before 300 Hz & nothing after 9 kHz. However, it drives my bunk mate nuts. LOL. I for see hours of this clip as revenge for his snoring

Uh huh. :biggrinje

Hell, I read in the paper this week about several blind officers. Dedication, experience and enthusiasm, counts a lot, so hang in there, Sarge.






Besides, you'd be dangerous out on the streets. :lol2:

Very true, or just leave them at home.:lol2:

Okay, well first off, Pilau really did not like that!

secondly, is it a bad sign that I couldn't hear anything until about a minute in? I started to discern (above the background noise of the laptop) a note at 1:05 then lost sound at 4:33 and got a wobble of sound back at 4:37 then it vanished.

I think that video's bogus. My kids heard the same thing (the lost sound at 4:33, the returned wobble at 4:37, and then gone again) and their hearing is a damn sight better than most adults. I think YouTube itself drops the high and low frequencies in its compression.

I had problems with the low end ,not until about 30 hz
I lost the hi end at 4:43

I lost it after 14 Khz. I can hear fine except, like SG, I have a "figure ground problem". Voices in public places are the auditory equivalent of polar bears in a snowstorm.

It doesn't claim to be an accurate test - but you do need to listen with headphones. I've just tried it without and I couldn't hear a thing until 1.30 minutes (90-100) whereas I heard it from the start on headphones. Then again I know this pc is very quiet.

What surprised me was that I didn't lose the higher sound much sooner thanks to background traffic.
I figured I always hear lower noises better.
Which is why I can't hear well when walking along a busy road - a bus goes past and the other person might as well be miming.

Turns out if other people took helium I'd be okay!

Twat ??
I Cunt Hear you !!
My ears Must be inFuckted !!!

;) ;) ;)

I lost the tone at 13 kHz. I spent some time sleeping under running jet engines and currently spend a lot of time around rumbling trucks.

My ears hurt a little after taking the test. I had the volume down fairly low too. I took it with my kids, and we all got about the same results (don't remember the numbers), except they didn't complain about ear pain afterwards.

Thanks to a bout of menigitis I have seriously deminished hearing in my right ear. For about 2 weeks I couldn't hear out of it at all, but then the eardrum finally hemorrhaged and I slowley regaind some of the hearing. Apparently, the skin begins to rebuild itself from the center of the eardrum and works its way out the ear canal... so I still have nasty ulcerated flesh in there... the position just changes bit by bit... I go back to the doctor tomorrow for a 3rd follow up.

I had to remind Flint that if he was talking on that side of me the likelyhood that I didn't hear him was pretty high...

My mom has been deaf in her left ear for most of her life. As a result she brought us up signing, and following suit... I am teaching our children to sign.

Pooka, meet Tink. Tink, Pooka.

You could learn a lot about teaching children to sign from her. All our kids sign (well, all the adults too, duh). Since we have a deaf son, signing is our best option.

Does anyone know if this is severe enough for a hearing aid? I'm worried about my car
 

This may seem like a foolish question, but do you grind your teeth? (Bruxism) If so, it can effect your hearing thru the years. Talk with your dentist. If it goes untreated, a hearing aid will be useless. Unfortunatly, I went untreated. I am now totally deaf in my left ear, and 75 percent deaf in my right ear.

Hi,
Protect your hearing at all cost. Like all things, you don't know what it's worth until it's gone.
If you are not sure, or comfortable, with your Doctor's initial diagnosis, seek another opinion.
Also, do you feel that the level of hearing loss you have is effecting your life in any way? Does it effect your ability to go about your life normally?
As to what can be done, that depends very much on what has/is causing the hearing loss.
I can say with intimate knowledge, once your hearing has gone, there is very little that can be done to return it to "normal".
I lost my hearing extremely suddenly and unexpectedly after getting a cold. The infection was that devastating, it just about completely destroyed the delicate hair folicles in my cochlear. I was given rapid steroid treatment, to try to stimulate some healing and growth, with very limited results.
I was fitted with 2 hearing aids, which gave me little benefit. I have since received a cochlear implant, and responding very well to my new way of hearing. All this has happened in the past 18 months.
But...it is not as good as natural hearing.
Most adults, in Australia it is about 1 in 6, have some level of hearing loss, and most know nothing about it.
My advise to you is simple.
If you aren't happy or sure, ask another professional, and keep asking until you understand, and accept, the diagnosis.
Protect and treasure what you have, and be aware of any change, no matter how small. If anything does change, see a specialist. Quick treatment can mean the world of difference.
Please value the fact that you CAN still hear, there are so many others out there who cannot.
All the best... :blush: :blush: