2 Years Later - Hearing Getting Worse

[jakthebomb]

I just had a hearing test after 2 years since my last one. I was shocked that I am now Mild to Moderate vs Normal to Mild 2 years ago. I am only 32, but feel saddened that things are getting worse. I thought most of my problem was people wearing face masks, but was worried that my hearing aids weren’t working as well as they used to.

Anyone else see a steady decline every few years?

2/16/2019

5/9/2021

I elected to get the new Costco Kirkland 10.0s to replace my difficult to get programed Hansation sound SHD. I am excited because this time around I will be getting Real Ear Measurements and can have remote adjustments instead of having to mail them in. It will also be my first set to have BlueTooth and Tinnitus Mode.

Thanks,
Catherine

[cvkemp]

I have been wearing hearing aids for over 16 years my hearing loss has been a steady loss. I am now 73 and in that time my hearing has gone from a mild loss to severe hearing loss. My advice is to get at least yearly hearing test, and to keep a journal of your hearing health any thing you even think has changed note it, also note the good things as well as the bad.

[skyguy]

I felt you about the wearing masks situation. I have been in tinnitus for many years but felt my hearing was getting worse after the pandemic. I thought the same that the problem was people wearing masks at first. But recently after I got my hearing test, the feedback kinda make me nervous. I am only 23 and have already became mild hearing loss.

Also, I’d like to ask anyone for advice here. I don’t own any hearing aids currently, and I am wondering that if my hearing would get worse and worse if I don’t use any hearing aids, or any suggestions for mild hearing loss?

I would really appreciate any answer.

[Freedom]

I have SSHL, and yes, my hearing does worsen over time. October 2014, my left was moderate hearing loss, right was very mild, I only needed 1 hearing aid.

By October 2019, my left is profound hearing loss, my right is severe. I bought a new pair of Costco KS9s. At this point, I think my hearing has worsened again.

So yes, I do see a steady decline every few years.

[Johnmurphy]

Hi there,

I’m a little older (40) but my original test was very similar to yours in my early thirties. Mild enough that I choose not to wear hearing aids. The in 2018 I went back for checkup and was gone into the lower end of mild, touching moderate in a few please. Tries hearing aids but didn’t wear them full time although I would wear them social events and when I felt o might struggle.

Now, this year I’ve dropped average of 20 decibels and my left ear which was mild has almost leveled out and has had a bigger loss in a shorter time.

How long have you worn aids?

I’ve now found myself needing them full time now but still having trouble in busier environments…

Regarding the loss. Im constantly asking if I should expect it to continue(as it has) or does it “usually” plateau…can’t seem to get a definitive answer!!!

[jakthebomb]

Hi John,

I started wearing Hearing Aids shortly before the first Costco Hearing Test. I went there for a second opinion since I wasn’t sure if I needed or would benefit from hearing treatment. I was told that I was borderline in my right ear where I could try a Hearing Aid but it wasn’t absolutely needed.

Shortly after COVID forced everyone to wear masks, I was really struggling to understand what people were saying, I realized that mostly it was due to not being able to lip read anymore. I didn’t realize just how much I relied on it until I was blocked from doing so.

I think I was lip reading to compensate more and more, then could no longer utilize that and found myself asking people to repeat themselves over and over again. To the point where most of them would get frustrated at me and tell me never mind.

I am looking forward to my fitting date which is two weeks from now. I have always felt like my current hearing aids weren’t working as well as they should. It was an improvement vs nothing, but I still found myself asking people to repeat themselves.

My WRS went down in my left ear, I wonder if that is due to my current hearing aids not being enough.

I am scared that it will continue to progress and get worse. This morning I was thinking if I should start trying to learn ASL just in case it does get worse and to a point where it would be needed. I am only 32, and in two years my hearing has gotten noticeably worse. Maybe I am just paranoid or my Anxiety is getting the best of me.

I guess I am looking for reassurances from other community members that I will be fine and I shouldn’t worry about things as much as I do.

Thanks,
Catherine

[kevels55]

Hi @jakthebomb, don’t be overly worried, we are pretty resourceful as human beings, you shouldn’t fret with wild imaginings, you will adapt to what ever comes your way! I was in my early 30’s when SSNHL hit, (I’m 65 this year) both ears went down in the severe threshold, and borderline profound in my left ear, viral flu which my Doctor unfortunately misdiagnosed, at first the tinnitus was a nightmare, twas horrendously loud, and I was almost suicidal with sleep deprivation, but I adapted for the next few years, then Meniers Disease hit me bad with it’s various symptoms, the worst lasted approximately 8 years, but I survived, but not unscathed, perhaps a better person though, or maybe a stronger individual, and more able to except my lot… When I was feeling down, I would recall other clients whom I had worked with, 2 in particular were “Profoundly Deaf & Blind”’ when I had them out and about, I signed on their hand using “Deaf, Blind Manual”, these 2 chaps were absolutely inspirational, full of life and full of fun, they were an absolute joy to work with, and my hearing problems paled into insignificance! You should learn ASL, it will forearm you for the future, if it is anything like BSL, it will be fun to learn, and it breeds self-confidence… Good luck in your Journey. Cheers Kev.

[jakthebomb]

Hi Kev,

Wow, I am so sorry you have gone through those experiences. Really puts things into perspective. Yes, learning and adapting is something I have had to do in the past. I can’t imagine I will ever stop.

You learn just what you are capable of when things go bad.

Thank you for sharing your experiences and giving me something to consider.

Thanks,
Catherine

[kevels55]

You are welcome Cathrine… Life can, and will sometimes frighten us, fundamentally because it is the unknown quantity we fear, we struggle to imagine how a severe to profound loss will impact on our life, in all truth, although challenging, you adapt, you seek out different strategies to help you cope with hearing loss, and above all you evolve into a more empathetic person towards others with a hearing loss, and many other disabilities besides… You will be fine Cathrine

[Johnmurphy]

I’m so far from an expert but thinking about ASL is getting way ahead (my opinion) Your loss is still very mild from what I’m seeing on this site etc. I would just continue as normal and wear your aids as much as possible.

I was a little panicked myself this year with the extended loss but as my Audi mentioned “you’ve lived you life fully hearing. Speech is fully developed. Even worst case scenario, today’s technology has people even profound able to hear”… I’m hoping my loss starts to stabilize but either way there is not much I (we) can do. Now that I’m comfortable being aided I’m ok with what happens and sorry I didn’t wear them more in the past…

I would be interested in hearing in others that had a similar history as us and where they ended up.

[danhuddleston]

I dare say 90+ % of us on this site started with a mild loss, (regardless of when we started using hearing aids). I started with just tinnitus from noise exposure at age 18…That progressed to tinnitus and mild hearing loss in one ear only. 45 years later I have a significant loss (not nearly as bad as some on this site). I can see a CI in my future on the right ear. Panicking is not the answer to the problem. Learning to accept what is and learning what can be done about it is the answer. The more understanding you have about your own hearing loss, the more comfortable you will be with the loss. Remember there is little to nothing you can do about it anyway. Find an audiologist you trust and go live your life. Accept new challenges as they arise. Best wishes…
Dan

[jakthebomb]

Hi John,

I have an Anxiety Disorder, so I tend to over think things and jump to worst case scenarios. I am still just processing that my hearing is getting worse. I do everything I can to protect my ears, even when there is a fire drill, I hold my ears closed to reduce the loudness. When listening to music, I keep it at 40% or lower. I just don’t understand why it is getting worse and it scares me that it could continue to get worse. I have forwarded my Audiology Reports to my Primary Care seeing if he suggests I have this investigated further.

I apologize if my comment about ASL was insensitive or hurt someone who read it. What if it gets bad to the point where not even Hearing Aids can help?

I have two friends, one has Single Sided Deafness where she was born without any hearing ability in her right ear, the other has had his hearing get progressively worse and now is a candidate for a Cochlear implant. He is only 10 years older than me and I can’t help but worry.

I can type ~60 Words per minute which I guess could come in handy. But I suffer from dysgraphia and cannot write if my life depended on it. Obviously this is something I should consult my Therapist about since my mind keeps racing.

Thanks,
Catherine

[jakthebomb]

Hi Dan,

If only it were that easy. I am very good about giving advice to friends and family, but I rarely apply that advise to myself. What you are suggesting makes total logical sense, but we all have an emotional side that tends to get the better of us.

There is also a part of me in denial and wants to blame everything on masks. That was why I hesitated to even get a new hearing test. I assumed it was because of masks that I couldn’t understand half of what people were saying. It gets tiring asking people to repeat themselves over and over again. Especially when they get annoyed and tell me “Don’t worry about it” and walk away.

Thanks,
Catherine

[danhuddleston]

Of course it is not that easy…It is a process…Work on one piece of the overload you are dealing with…then move on to the next…and the next, until you come to a place of acceptance/understanding…It gets easier with time…
Best wishes,
Dan

[kevels55]

Hi Catherine, about 3 1/2 years ago or so, I got Sepsis, followed by “Post Sepsis Syndrome”, one of the main symptoms was severe anxiety, my anxiety would manifest as a full-blown heart attack, sometimes 3,4 or 5 times a day, including heart palpitations, eventually after about 6 months or so, things did subside, but certain aspects of that anxiety never truly left me, and unfortunately it hit me again last October, probably aided and abetted with Covid-19 lockdown, mentally I struggled, unable to work… Fast-forward to February this year, I got Sepsis again! I truthfully could not believe it, but again I pulled through… My Doctor put me on Propranolol (Beta Blockers) for anxiety and irregular heart beat, I am coping fairly well, I will hopefully return to work in early July? Prior to my first bout of Sepsis, I had no idea how debilitating anxiety is, it just drains you both mentally and physically, you have my extreme empathy, and my understanding Catherine… Take care, Kev.

[jakthebomb]

Hi Kev,

Oh dear that is an experience. Sepsis is a serious thing to have happened to you. Glad you weren’t seriously injured from it.

I have battled Anxiety for most my life. I was diagnosed with Generalize Anxiety Disorder back in my early teens. While I take medication to manage it, sometimes life altering events can knock me down and takes a bit to recover.

I really hope you make it through this time as well. It is not an easy thing to manage and I appreciate your kind words.

Thanks,
Catherine

[cohen]

Hi Catherine,
The kind of loss you have, a flat loss, is relatively easy to correct compared to some kinds of losses. And there are so many ways people can supplement their hearing now, if they ever need that–which you may not. If you are concerned about genetics, and get tested, and a change in a gene is found, that often helps with knowing the prognosis. When my profound loss at the highest frequencies was found in my 20s, I took up sign language because no one could tell me what would occur. Now, with the gene identified, I understand most folks like me get pretty deaf in high frequencies, better but not great in mids, and preserve low frequency hearing. Of course something bad could happen to my ears tomorrow, but even so, knowing the genetics has helped me plan. It’s a tiny leg up on the future odds of what might occur. I hope this is helpful. Plus you can always be proactive in preserving as much hearing as possible with some lifestyle habits, so every day you can feel that you are doing something helpful. Speaking of which, I hope this is at least a little helpful to you. The one other thing I would add is that I am surprised how much hearing I have lost, compared to how “well” I hear. English is very redundant and speechreading, once the masks come off, will help too. You’re among allies here who share your journey and do a great job supporting each other, as I’m sure you’ve experienced. Barb

[lsmith77025]

Get hearing aids if you have to ask people to repeat!!!
The longer you wait, the more loss, the less the BRAIN will UNDERSTAND when you restore sound. We HEAR with our brain. The ear merely collects sound and sends it to the brain.
MOST of the people who buy hearing aids and then stuff them in a drawer and do not wear them - - - waited too long for the first aids. So WHEN they did get aids and the brain heard paper rustling, feet shuffling, high pitched syllables, . . . it FREAKED and said I do not know what this is!!!
I have been through 3 generations of hearing loss. My Dad and my father-in-law had exactly opposite results.
My Dad got a hearing aid when the loss was so mild (I mumbled and he had trouble understanding some people in meetings) that he honestly thought it was not doing “anything” until the battery went out in the middle of a meeting!!! (I had quit mumbling almost immediately)
My Father-in-law was an Elementary School Principal and did not get aids (we are talking 1950’s technology also) until he could not hear the girls voices and found them so annoying that until the day he died, he would take them OFF as he walked into the house!!!
As a result, my husband started wearing aids when he was about 30, I started at about 60 and my daughter had aids by the time she turned 45. and all of us have adjusted very well!!! Also LOVE the new technology!!! Wish my husband had lived to try Bluetooth!!!

[jakthebomb]

I have been wearing hearing aids for over 2 years. I was noticing that even with them I wasn’t able to understand what people were saying half the time. I initially thought it was because of masks, I got an updated hearing test and learned that my hearing loss has progressed to the point where my current hearing aids were no longer helping me. So I am getting new ones the Costco KS 10s to replace my current set.

[KerBear]

Hi Catherine;

I was much like you about 8 years ago when I started my journey with hearing loss. I’m pretty sure if you look back in this forum you can find a few posts from way back about my fears. It’s pretty normal to fear the unknown, and it’s also normal - and expected! - to grieve the loss of hearing. (I actually teach a hearing loss course now and make a point of going over the stages of grief with the course attendees.)

When I first started on this journey, I was on an extended maternity leave and had just given up both my RN and Nurse Practitioner licenses in order to stay home and raise my kids. When I told a former colleague about my hearing loss, she essentially said “You’re never going to be able to work again”. Even my ENT at the time told me that it would be difficult to go back to work as a nurse and that I should look into alternate career options. I took those messages home and spent far too long agonizing over their words. I truly believed I was going to go deaf and that I would never work again.

Fast forward 8 years, and my hearing has declined by about 10 dB in each ear. Where I originally had normal-to-mild hearing loss in my left ear, and mild-to-moderate loss in my right, I now have mild-moderate loss in my left and moderate-to-moderately severe loss in my right. But…I also returned to work as a RN a few years ago and am nearly licensed again as a NP. I have a really great pair of hearing aids, a stethoscope which I can use with my hearing aids, and 2 jobs lined up working with my preferred population.

The staff at both clinics were I will be working (also where I did my practicum placements) know that I wear hearing aids and they know that they may need to talk a little bit louder to me/face me directly if I have a cold or allergy symptoms. I also tell my patients that I wear hearing aids. Honestly, nobody seems bothered by this at all! I find quiet talkers are usually happy to speak up. The only resistance I’ve had is with one child who had experienced recent horrific trauma. She just couldn’t speak in a voice I could hear, which is totally reasonable! I offered to let her and her caregiver see the other medical practitioner I was working with but they declined, so we made it work. I gave the little girl my Connect Clip to use as a microphone and we were able to have a good conversation. As it turns out she thought having her own personal microphone was really cool and was thrilled to be able to listen to her own heart and lung sounds, as well as those of her caregiver, using my headphones!

I’ve had more than one staff member at the facilities I’ve done practicums at ask me about hearing loss and share their concerns about their own hearing loss with me. And I always tell them it can be hard to accept hearing loss at the beginning, but once you do, you learn to cope, and you figure out how to adjust to the changes.

Do I ever worry about going fully deaf? Yes! I should already be deaf in my right ear due to the medical condition I have, but for some reason, I’m not. All I can do is live one day at a time. For now I can hear well enough to care for all of the people/patients I love. If that changes one day, I’m sure I will be sad and grieve, but for now, I’m really thankful for the technology that exists and I plan to use any and every piece of equipment that I need until such time as I can no longer work, or I retire.