hearing loss?

Question

i suddenly lost a very little amount of my hearing 2 years ago. and my hearing has not changed since. Now, i can hear normal, pass audiology tests (3 times in 2 years), it's just feel funny to talk, and my affected right ear feels stuffed. but i hear fine, close to perfect. is there a risk of it deteriorating any further? i don;t listen to music, as i ipods. and i don;t really get exposed to loud sounds. I'm 15. is this a disease or what?
thanks

Answer 1

Having lost about 50 percent of my hearing and wearing hearing aids, I can tell you that hearing loss is a progressive thing. The statistics that my audiologist quotes is that by age 50, two out of three people have enough hearing loss to need hearing aids. Most will not get them, as they are not covered by health insurance. The reason that it feels funny to talk is that you are hearing your voice with one good ear, and one slightly bad ear. The sound you hear is uneven.

Answer 2

Hi! Okay I have looked at your other questions to try to get more information on your question. First off. When you get a hearing test at your pediatrician it is not likely a full hearing test. When you see an audiologist you will be tested in a sound proof room with earphones in your ears. The audiologist will have you listen to beeps at multiple frequencies (pitches) and have you do some testing with word understanding (repeating words after them). They may also have you listen for beeps with a headband on behind your ear and they may also due to a pressure test to test and make sure your eardrum is moving properly. A full hearing evaluation includes all these tests. Sometimes ALL the tests are not necessary, but you usually have at least the beeps and the words. My point is you probably did not have this at your pediatrician. Typically they do a hearing screening which is a much shorter test. Now if you passed the screening that is great, but getting a full hearing evalutation would be beneficial to make sure one of the other tests does not find something is wrong and to make sure you DO have normal hearing at all pitches.

Secondly in response to your question of will your hearing deteriorate. As long as you are healthy you will be fine for a long time. It is certainly a good idea to limit your exposure to loud noise/music as much as possible, but if you enjoy going to concerts the simple solution is to wear earplugs. You should not worry yourself so much over this that you limit what you do for fun. When you are sick with a cold you may notice you have more trouble hearing. There are also other random things that can cause hearing loss, but are very rare. I do not think you yourself have anything that makes you more susceptible to losing your hearing any faster than anybody else. FYI with the normal aging process a person typically starts to notice a change in their hearing in their late 50's early 60's. Even then they may not need a hearing aid for 5-10 years after that.

Thirdly. It sounds like you are having some ear symptoms. One ear feels plugged. These types of things often occur with colds or allergies. These types of things are often related to a Eustacian Tube problem. See link below for more information. If you would like to have your symptoms looked into more you should see an Ear Nose Throat specialist. How long has your right ear felt plugged up and you feel funny when you talk? Sounds to me like this is a new thing and unrelated to your previous symptoms 2 years ago.