Hi! I’m 15, and use a hearing aid in my left ear. I have moderate loss, and have a hole in my left ear drum that’s taking up about 20% of it. The hole was caused by years of tubes, because my Eustachian tube doesn’t work right. I’ve had the problem since I was in kindergarten, and have gotten hearing tests and ent visits regularly since then. Even with ear tubes, I always had some sort of hearing loss (usually mild-moderate, right now moderate in left and mild in right) and it’s never gone away. I’ve felt really isolated my whole life, got made fun of in school for have to ask what someone said, and have always spoken wayyy to loud and needed captions. It’s like I can hear kinda but everything is muffled and doesn’t sound like words when there’s background noise. My question about calling myself hard of hearing is because technically there is a surgery I could try to fix my eardrum. I’ve had several bad experiences with surgery before and am not pursuing it right now, but my doctor thinks it might help the loss. But even then I’ve always had some sort of loss, besides for two audiograms that were done without any background noise and by an audiologist who I would not say was good at his job. When I first got my hearing aid this summer it felt like the entire world was different, I can talk more at school and am genuinely happier. I play piano and I can finally hear it fully. I just worry that I can’t call my self hard of hearing because it could maybe be fixed some, even if my hearing loss was still mild. I know this was super long but thank you for reading!

I’m 14f with hearing loss. I have had hearing loss since 4 years old and they fixed my left ear at 5 I’ve had a hearing aid in my right ear since 6 years old. I have MANY complaints about other people when it comes to my hearing loss.

1. If I tell someone I have hearing loss the first thing they do is snap or clap or whisper to see if I can hear them. Like what? They do this for people with glasses to. Like can you see this blah blah blah. Please STOP. I’m fine with questions. I really am I promise. I always have been. It’s just why do you automatically resort to loud noises to check? Ask me. Don’t just do that without my permission. I to ask people these things. But it’s with permission. I ask if I’m aloud. I ask them to show me when they stop seeing something using their own hands or tell me about there limits to hearing.

2. They try to WEAR my hearing aid. They beg. They whine about it. Or flat out touch it if I take it out to readjust my hair to get out from under it. Like excuse me? Why do you think that’s ok? Why are you trying to pressure me into this? I hate it. I ask people to hold it sometimes or to place it somewhere during sports. That’s really it. That’s the only time your ALOUD to touch it if I give you permission in that moment.

3. People going “I’m sorry I’m deaf” or “istg I’m actually deaf” or any variation of that. STOP. It’s like saying “I’m autistic” or “I’m so ocd” JUST STOP. I actually might be autistic and am getting tested for that and still will never say that I’m autistic if I’m acting weird because I’m not diagnosed with it. I will make jokes about you saying you’re deaf to make you feel bad about it. Because you have no right to say that. I will within out my hearing aid and say “me too” it makes everyone laugh except the person who said they where deaf. They feel bad because they know they were wrong. I’m tired of talking about this with my fully hearing friends because they don’t get it.

Also disclaimer I genuinely do not mind if someone has questions. I actually enjoy it. Especially with little kids. They are so kind and innocent about it it’s the adults and teens I have issues with as it’s mostly adults and teens doing this. When I was younger kids would be like “what’s that in your ear” and I’d explain they would ask why I can’t hear or what I can’t hear but NEVER snapped or clap or anything. They would ASK to touch it and sometimes I’d say yes sometimes I wouldn’t but they never fought about it. They never made me feel like a clown in a mall with my hearing loss. It’s just adukts and teens Am I aloud to be annoyed?

Hey guys. For the past couple of months ive started to notice that the hearing in my left ear isnt as good as it was before. Its not terribly worse or anything but i can just feel that its degraded a little bit. Not sure if thats just me but i wanted some opinions from yall. Let me get some things out of the way first.

I dont use earphones, mainly headphones almost everyday just for music for an hour or two, i have been using q tips for a few years but i make sure not to go in very far, my left ear is always really itchy and has more liquid earwax/earwax in general. When i yawn my hearing improves in my right ear but not my left ear.

Ive never encountered these problems with my right ear. I know not everyone is a doctor here but i just want some outside opinions on what yall think and what i should do

Hi i wear hearing aids on both ears and was wondering if there are any good and cheap headphones that are big enough to not squish your ears especially cause i wear specs too preferably the square or oval ones (it doesnt have to be noise cancelling but it should be that other people cannot hear what im listening to)

Hey I don’t normally do this type of stuff but I need help and advice from people like me, or who may have or are struggling from similar things. Throughout my life, I’ve never passed a hearing test and in 2019 I was recommended to an ENT, which started this whole thing where I learned of my hearing loss. We’ve tried countless things over and over again, and they mention hearing aids but go around it or avoid it, and have me try things that never work. This is really starting to affect me and my mental health, and I just feel wrong and hate being left out of so much. But no one can listen or understand around me. I don’t know what to do, I have a second opinion coming up, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. Help?

I came across an Instagram short saying how exposure to constant loud noise can ruin your hearing, and in the comments, someone mentioned how now- instead of hearing complete silence- they hear ringing when it’s quiet.

I’ve never experienced “complete silence”. I avoid the quiet as much as possible because when it is quiet I hear this… almost like a “fuzzy” sound. It’s just audio fuzz. That’s how I describe it. I’ve seen ads that explain hearing loss as a ringing, but I wouldn’t describe the sound I hear as a ringing. A ring is a high pitch noise. This noise is… it’s just there. It’s not high pitch. It’s just what I would explain as “static”. I don’t know if I have had hearing loss because my hearing has been like this all my life. It is possible that my hearing has been damaged though, because I grew up in a loud environment. My father was a “bass junkie”. I have many memories being in a little boy chair in the back of my dad’s car and I’d be crying because of how loud the music was coming out of the subwoofers behind me and how the bass would shake the car.

Do most people not have a “fuzz” when in silence? They can actually enjoy silence and not get anxious by the empty sounds? Because I can’t. Silence makes me lose my mental sanity. I need some sort of sound at all times.

i have auditory processing disorder and need hearing aids. I’ve been putting it off as long as i can, but it's time now. specsavers is the cheapest and quickest, but is 18+ :( are there any ha fittings in herts or the area? preferably with no long wait times

Hello,

I have a young child who is struggling with a moderate to severe hearing loss in a school setting.

I was wondering if any of you had any comparative experience with the use of NHS Vs private hearing aids in that or a similar setting.

I'm not sure she has the language to be able to describe any differences accurately just yet.

Are the differences noticeable? Are there any at all?

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

A few nights ago, I started noticing ringing in my ears. I've always had some sort of ringing in my ears, for as long as I can remember, but it's always just been in the background, and it's never been loud enough for me to really pay attention to it or notice it. Now, I notice it when it's quiet, and especially at night. It doesn't feel like it's coming from my ears, but more like inside my head?? It's really high-pitched. Idk how else to explain it, but it's making me really worried that I have tinnitus/hearing loss.

I'm a earphone listener, and will listen to them in the bus on the way to school and generally when I'm doing homework or just playing video games. I don't blast music though and I try to keep it comfortable. I never wear them for more than 2 hours at a time unless I'm travelling, which doesn't happen very often.

Now, I tend to have anxiety when it comes to my health, meaning I often panic if I find something unusual about my body, and I google the ''symptoms'', which makes me even more anxious and panicky. This, in turn, worsens my ''symptoms'', which means I'm a lot more aware of them and they are the only thing I can think about. Could this ringing in my ears be because I've noticed it once, and now I can't stop paying attention to it because I'm anxious, which in turn makes the high-pitched tone even louder?? Or could it be something serious?? I've thought of going to the doctor to make sure it's not serious, but then again, I'm scared I've given myself tinnitus/slight hearing loss.

Anyone have any advice? Has anything like this happened to anyone else? Thanks in advance :)

I'm going into college and I have severe hearing loss on my left ear. I'm scared about it getting worse but it's looking like my hearing declines every year. Obviously college carries sports games and parties, so I want to make sure I'm safe. What are the best best ear plugs I can get???

I’ve searched this and the last time it was asked was 3 years ago.

Have moderate/severe hearing loss on one side.

Big time gamer.

Looking for a wireless headset for gaming.

Can anyone chime in on which is the best one and why?

TIA

: I had a tympanoplasty (middle ear surgery repair) a month ago. Doctor told me to try and avoid altitude changes such as flying and going up to the mountains 2 months after surgery. I was recently invited to an event in the mountains which is a 3,000 ft change in altitude from where I am. I feel like the surgery has gone good, i had ringing in my ears and pain that went away, but this past week the ringing and pain has came back but only if i listen for it and the pain comes in waves very shortly. Other sources recommend 2-3 weeks after surgery u can go up to the mountains. I just dont want to risk it getting messed up. I would love to go to this event. Let me know what you guys think.

So am 13 and am so terrified I might have tinnitus I always listin to loud music and last year I heard ringing in my ear and the docter said it was a ear infection so after I while I started listening to my headphones again and now I heared some ringing in my ears Somtimes when I clench my jaw so now am scared that I have it I rily hope I don't I don't know if it's a ear infection or tinnitus):

Which hearing aid do you belive is better the p90 or the virto.

My sister is 13 yrs old . 3 months before she was suffering from mumps and then all of the sudden she wasn't able to hear anything from her left ear . Is there any cure of this I have seen many videos of doctor Manoj Sharma can anyone suggest should I consult him

Hey all!

HS junior here. I recently made a tool that transcribes my lectures, and feeds it into ChatGPT for it to 'learn' it in real time.

In other words, it records your audio, turns it into words so ChatGPT can understand, and then you can ask relevant questions to your lecture. I've been using it alot recently, asking questions like "wtf did my chem teacher just say about periodic trends again?"

I thought it would be helpful to all of you out there, who unfortunately have potential hearing loss.

It's free! Please give it a shot at OpenChapter.org, and let me what you think!

Note: your data is only stored on your computer, and the AI only has awareness of the most recent 45min of audio.

i have a profound hearing loss and was born without an ear, the technical term for it is a conductive hearing loss. would i still be able to sing well? ive sung for a while but all my teachers say im basically bad at it lol

i use my earbuds a lot, but almost always between 30-55% volume. am i at risk?

Sup. I'm 13yrs old and have glue ear in my right ear and give me an 80% hearing loss. I have the option to take a T-tube, to which who don't know is basically a plastic tube that goes in my ear drum and helps fluid drain from my ear. My problem is that I had taken a gromit (which is the same but lasts about 9 months to 1 year) and my glue ear came back and now I have an option to take the T-tube and I would like to ask weather I should leave my ear as it is with my hearing-aid or get the T-tube (which lasts 2-3 years and I can't put my head under water unless I have a plug and I can't jump in pool or keep my head under water long. And this make me feel i would lose a lot of my childhood as I to a public pool at a chalet and I'm wanting to do swing at a local gym) so If you have been bothered to read all of this I ask you what should I do?

Thanks for read all of that😅

went to a metal show on friday. having an anxiety attack over worrying about hearing loss

I feel so sick. I already worried about hearing loss before this because I can’t understand anything. I did get it checked out by a doctor a year ago and their is only slight loss.

My girlfriend didn’t wear earplugs because according to her she goes to these shows all the time and she already has hearing loss.

I didn’t wear earplugs for the first set (~15 min maybe) bc they were a pain in the ass to get in. i did wear them after and they tuned down the sound a decent bit.

but WHY is the music so loud. I also have an issue with rlly loud sounds like they rlly bother me unlike other ppl who are fine with them. like apparently it doesn’t sound so loud to everyone else?

Hello, it's My second post here, I'm a 14F currently living with a hearing aid. Recently I started thinking a lot why some sounds are so annoying/triggering for me. I always had problems with that, I couldn't stand constant loud talking, dishes hitting each other, high sounds (that probably the most annoying and often) and some more. These make me either want to cry, shake or somehow inner panic. It's even weirder, since some sounds don't always make me annoyed , it comes suddenly and I don't know what is it related to. This is very hard for me since I got so many comments on that like "Okay but if you have hearing loss then loud noises can't annoy you because you don't hear them". I don't know why is it like that, my biology teacher once explained to me that it's simply connected to my hearing loss, others say that I might have misophonia, and some tell me that I'm just I'm exaggerating. What do you think? If you have hearing loss, do you experience similar things?

Hi, I was trying to change the brightness in my phone and accidentally turned the volume all the way up on my airpod pro 2 (with noise cancelation setting on in a quiet room). I took them out within 2-3 seconds. It was about 90-100 db (I played the music without them in my ear and checked). Will this cause brain damage or hearing loss? I also got a concussion recently so would that change anything too?

So I have had tinnitus for a very long time now (I am 18), and I went to an ENT. He had me get a hearing test with an audiologist and confirmed I have mild hearing loss. During the appt. I asked him (ENT) if there was anything I could do about the ringing in my ears to quiet it at all, and he said that there was nothing I could do, and then told me to come back if it gets worse. Which was frustrating bc that is why I went to him in the first place, it is significantly louder, and my friends and family have pointed out to me/gotten frustrated with me for asking them what or to repeat themselves so much.

My family always tells me I'm always off in my own little world bc I don't notice them trying to get my attention sometimes at events or when we are all together. When genuinely I didn't hear them.

So I did my own research and found the some hearing aids have noise masking on them to help tinnitus?? Would that help me at all? I hear the ringing over everything and it is very annoying. But it's hard to explain it to the people around me for them to understand.

But it's not like I can't hear anything so I worry that I'm being dramatic and I shouldn't bother, bc the hearing loss is only mild, and Idk if they would help my tinnitus anyways. This is my first time using this app so sorry if this is too long at all

i am a singer of two bands and i have had trouble with my ears. the tests tell me that my ears are 32yrs old which is about 15400hz that's when i cant hear. is this too bad? im 16 btw

I’ve turned 20 and realized Im not a teen anymore :(

Is this still somewhere I can engage?

Woke up Saturday morning after being at a festival and me and my friend are both hearing each-other speak with a lisp. Thought it was just because we’d just woken up or whatever and didn’t think much of it, until we heard the TV, songs, and all kinds of speech we can here all have lisps.

Doesn’t even make sense how this is possible and we both have it, found nothing online about it and it’s getting worse. It’s now Tuesday and I can hear my own voice with a lisp and everyone else’s with a very aggressive lisp.

Help 🤣

So for as long as I can remember, I’ve dealt with what I now think is auditory neuropathy and some possible hearing loss. I can hear people speaking and other noises for the most part, but everything tends to sound muffled or like gibberish. I want to bring this up to my parents since after doing research I think hearing aids could be beneficial to me. I’m worried that they won’t believe me if I bring it up though. I’ve also been noticing more frequent headaches and ear-ringing. Does anyone have any ideas on how I could bring this up without them immediately shooting down my experiences?

Thanks! :)

I'm a 14yo girl, and I've had hearing problems since I was 4. I traveled from doctor to doctor, had 3 surgeries but nothing changed. My last doctor told me to go to professor in one town which is far away from My home, 5h drive, a night in a hotel and in the morning meeting with the professor. A few hearing tests and all that stuff until he finnaly said that I'll need another surgery or a hearing aid. My mum said that I'm not mentally ready for another surgery (which is true, since I'm going to a new school and I would like to Focus on studying and meeting new people, not another surgery. And how can I be sure that this one will fix anything? Last one didn't.). He explained to them that my hearing loss is worse than they expected, almost as if I was half deaf. So hearing aid. He said he would go to another doctor who would help us try on the hearing aid so I could see what it was like. I stayed in the hall with my parents, my mum asked me if my hearing loss bothered me, I told her a few situations where it actually bothered me and I cried against my will.

When they put the hearing aid in, I felt like I was in heaven (except for the fact that it was creaking slightly), I started laughing and smiling because everything was louder, the doctor smiled at me and looked at my parents explaining a few things. When I took it off my parents said "aw, she has such a sad face now". So now they are seriously thinking about buying the hearing aid, but I feel guilty. It will cost some thousands, even if in my country we get 2,000 from some foundation I already have braces and Glasses and now the hearing aid I don't want my parents to spend this much money on me just because I was born with some "error".

[Sorry for any mistakes, I'm still learning English]