New to the forums and to hearing loss

Hi all. I’m 18 years old and have had a rather rapid decline in my hearing of late. Initially I thought my ears were blocked with wax or I had fluid in them, but alas, no.

I had a hearing test about two months ago, a little while after I noticed the problem, which showed a ‘cookie bite’ pattern. A few weeks later I had another test at the ENT’s clinic, which showed a slightly deeper ‘bite’. I had an MRI which was clear. I don’t have the exact figures for the more recent audiogram, but it drops to about 35 dB in the 2-4 kHz range, while 250Hz and 8kHz are 0-10 dB, pretty much perfect. The ENT says it’s likely hereditary, any online literature (:slight_smile: What would I do without the internet?) I can find on ‘cookie bites’ confirms this

I have difficulty hearing in restaurants and shops, etc. but not when talking in a quiet room to someone nearby. Music has also lost much of its quality to my ears. At the risk of complaining to most of you for whom my problem seems trivial, it’s making me rather withdrawn and miserable :(.

So my question is this: are there hearing aids that would enable someone like me with this sort of mild loss to hear better in background noise, or when people don’t talk clearly? My Dad is a serial mutterer, and won’t change to suit me now that I can’t understand him. Would it be worth trialing some aids, and would they help with my tinnitus and sense of ‘fullness’?

And for the ‘cookie biters’… How sudden was your hearing loss, and does it generally progress quickly? Any communication tips would be helpful too, as I come off as rather slow in certain environments, being naive to this problem.

Thanks guys, I apologise for the novel :).

This may be a novel, but it is not a published article.

You may get a proper response if you post in the correct forum.
http://www.hearingaidforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=13 is probably a good choice

or http://www.hearingaidforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=7 if you prefer.