Hearing Loss

[Expat]

When I had my hearing checked the doc said; " I bet when you are in a crowd, you don't hear so well". He was spot on. Apparently along with the tinnitus, I have some loss that the upper frequencies which causes the hearing issues when there is a lot of extra noise around. I'm no good to be in a crowded bar and try to converse with people. I may as well stay home. Which I do.

lol, it probably isn’t smart but I tend to smile and nod.

 

[Squirt239]

I'm subbing at my kid's school today. They're having hearing tests and I'm helping out the speech pathologists.

After the kids were done, I was offered a hearing test. I've not had one since my mom retired years ago, so figured it couldn't hurt.

I listen to lots of loud music and used to shoot .22 without hearing protection.

My left ear is "very normal," whatever that means, and my right ear is -45dB at 4kHz. Thinking about it, I think I did that just a few months ago shooting a nuisance chipmunk with a .45 and no ear plugs. I used my Jeep's hood for a rest. The sound bounced off the windshield and made me deaf in my right ear for a couple days.

Anyone else?

What?

 

[Squirt239]

I'm subbing at my kid's school today. They're having hearing tests and I'm helping out the speech pathologists.

After the kids were done, I was offered a hearing test. I've not had one since my mom retired years ago, so figured it couldn't hurt.

I listen to lots of loud music and used to shoot .22 without hearing protection.

My left ear is "very normal," whatever that means, and my right ear is -45dB at 4kHz. Thinking about it, I think I did that just a few months ago shooting a nuisance chipmunk with a .45 and no ear plugs. I used my Jeep's hood for a rest. The sound bounced off the windshield and made me deaf in my right ear for a couple days.

Anyone else?

That joke works better in person....

 

[armalitesheepdog]

Remember Headbangers Ball?

Oh yea. I lived the life. Graduated in 82. I probably saw every metal band that came thru Indy from 78 (hard rock) to 84 (Very Metal) even played in a Metal garage band in HS.

 

[Old Dog]

Turbo tractors, chainsaws, dynamite, big magnums, rock concerts... no hearing protection. Today in most restaurants all I hear is white noise, can't hear people at my table. Started to use hearing protection after I fired a .222 @ a groundhog using the open truck door as a rest. That was the loudest BOOM I ever heard. Concussion rattled the whole cab and my brain. I do not want to ever have to fire my .357 from inside a vehicle.

 

[MindfulMan]

(or Pink Floyd as a teen).

 

[DoggyDaddy]

lol, it probably isn’t smart but I tend to smile and nod.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

That's Blue Oyster Cult!

 

[MindfulMan]

That's Blue Oyster Cult!

How about 'Spirit' .... "The Twelve Dreams of Doctor Sardonicus" !!!

 

[snapping turtle]

Neil young and the shocking pinks sept 16 1983 Bloomington In assembly hall.
Ozzy Ozborne with Randy Rhoads circle theatre Indianapolis Aug 28 1981.

Very close to the stage and my ears rang for days. After that I was much more selective in my use of ear protection but it was to late to save it all. Niel young I was right next to the speakers.

I have been wearing custom ear pro for years since a1983. Good thing as I can still hear pretty well for an old fart.

All the workers at Delco Remy Anderson most said word is "What"
All of them are dads co workers.

I still talk loud. So far no ringing and

 

[Alamo]

My left ear from a test a couple month ago. Right ear is about the same.

I tried to get the guy to label that lowest point as “wife’s voice” but I didn’t have any cash with me that day.

While I was still on active duty, I got some hearing aids. The didn’t really help in normal conversations but I could hear the refrigerator real well, so I stopped wearing them. When I retired the VA gave me a 10% disability rating for the tinnitus. I’ve had tinnitus for years, long before I knew what it was. I didn’t realize I had it until I read a readers digest article about tinnitus probably 30 years ago. It doesn’t bother me much, although it’s quite loud if I think about it, but I learned to ignore a long time ago I guess.

Recently, I had a bout of BPPV (vertigo) and my doctor sent me to see an ENT. Cured the BPPV with physical therapy, and she did a hearing test as part of the eval, which resulted in the graph above. She’s retired military from Brooke Army Medical Center here in San Antonio, Told me I should try the hearing aids again. They’re a lot better than they were 20 years ago and they’re free at the VA.

So I called up the VA for the first time since I did my retirement physical nearly 20 years ago, and it actually was very well done process, it just took a little while to get appointments.

Now I have a bright, shiny pair of hearing aids, and they do seem to help with conversations this time around. And I can hear the both the refrigerator and the cat fart from the other end of the house. What more could you ask for?

One of the best features is that they connect with my iphone via Bluetooth and act like earbuds when I get a call. That is a very useful feature.

They also recharge via USB charger, so I don’t have to screw with batteries. That’s also nice.

They amplify the spectrum that I’m deficient in, which is clearly the higher frequencies, but they don’t bring through the bass so well. Everything has a bit of tinny hard edge to it. If I really want to hear music, I pull out the hearing aids and put on some headphones.

 

[gregkl]

I do this too, but I never thought of it as drowning out the tinnitus. It's just white noise to me because I keep the volume so low that I can barely make out what is being said (on purpose). I've always preferred some kind of background noise for falling asleep, even as a kid (or Pink Floyd as a teen). TV is on a timer, so it goes off after I'm asleep.

I use a white noise machine to sleep.

 

[Cynical]

I'm deaf as a stone. I always had a kickass stereo in my cars, gun fire with no hearing protection, loud factory environment for most of my work life. Someday I'll get hearing aids.
Until the COVID mask mandates, I never realized that I read lips to fill in gaps.

Yes, this exactly. My wife tells me I need to get hearing aids from the VA which my brother and dad have but I feel like if I give in I’ll be wearing sneakers with Velcro straps and eating supper at 4:00 p.m I cant tell you how many times when covid was a thing that I can’t understand what you’re saying. Didn’t realize I was a lip reader.

 

[Cynical]

My wife's voice is hard to make out most days. We have been together all our adult lives and she still talks in another room, or facing away. Get my attention and I will pay attention! Otherwise, I just ignore the noise.
And most noise is almost painful now. I get overwhelmed by too much and leave the area.
And then the tinnitus! It never stops! I started leaving the TV on low to try to cover it at bedtime.

Yeah, the tinnitus I don’t notice unless someone mentions it or I’m in a quiet room. I remember one night I woke up slapping my head because I thought I had a mosquito buzzing my ear.

 

[Gabriel]

Between working in factories and going to tons of concerts when I was younger, my hearing is pretty bad. I have tinnitus and can’t understand anyone that is talking to me if there is any background noise.

 

[Flingarrows]

When I had my hearing checked the doc said; " I bet when you are in a crowd, you don't hear so well". He was spot on. Apparently along with the tinnitus, I have some loss that the upper frequencies which causes the hearing issues when there is a lot of extra noise around. I'm no good to be in a crowded bar and try to converse with people. I may as well stay home. Which I do.

Pretty much the same for me. I can’t hear in a crowd

 

[Ziggidy]

Been wearing hearing aids for over 11 years now, maybe longer. Not sure why I have hearing loss except for maybe loud musing whe n I was much younger. When I worked I used stethoscope all the time. Back in the early 2000’s I noticed I was having trouble and had to buy an amplified stethoscope; not cheap. Got worse and ended up with the aids. One recommendation for those who need them, Costco is great. Costs are much much less, warranty is unbeatable and service better than outstanding.

As said, take care of your hearing. Losing your hearing also impairs your ability to decipher and process what people are saying. Those who have hearing loss know what I am referring to.

 

[Wabatuckian]

I have tinnitus pretty bad. Some days worse than others, but it would be interesting to have my hearing tested. The tinnitus doesn't seem to interfere with my hearing. It's like external sounds are on a different "channel" than my tinnitus. Hard to explain, but it doesn't seem like tinnitus is blocking out any external sounds. (Other than cicadas, crickets and tree frogs - always have to plug my ears to figure out if what I'm hearing is real or just tinnitus. )

I know exactly what you mean.

My ears would ring on and off all through my childhood, and one day they just stayed ringing. This was before the loud music or guns.

I never had trouble passing hearing tests -- and I took a lot of them since Mom was a speech pathologist -- so it was never worried about.

On the other hand, I've always had issues filtering single voices in a crowd.

 

[GasTube138]

I had a lot of brutal ear infections as a kid (literally blood coming out of my ears) and then got into metal and punk music too. Add shooting and general blowing things up, lol, yeah I'm deaf as hell. I also have tinitus. So what I can hear is "REEEEE" all the time.

I was rejected from every branch of military because of it.


It is what it is. I'll probably be fully deaf eventually. I double up on ear pro to delay it but I know it's gonna happen.

 

[Whip_McCord]

Three old shooters are shooting trap. One says "windy isn't it?" Another says "no, I think it's Thursday." The third says "me too, lets go get a beer." While funny, it illustrates how years of shooting without good hearing protection can cause hearing loss. I know a few older shooters that do not hear very well anymore.