When will I start to lose my high frequency hearing?

[twotoedsloth]

Hello,

We just connected an older CRT television in a classroom, it wasn't practical to bring in a projector and screen, and I was surprised that I could still hear the 15khz tone, so much that it was actually quite annoying.

How did we tolerate this in the past? And when do you think my hearing will diminish enough to not hear this tone? I'm 48 years old.

Please let me know what you think,

Peter

[Hugh Robjohns]

I was surprised that I could still hear the 15khz tone, so much that it was actually quite annoying.

Actually 15.625kHz... and try being in a TV production gallery with 30 or 40 CRTs all whistling away!

How did we tolerate this in the past?

Didn't have any choice, did we? But, to be fair, some TVs were a lot noisier than others.

And when do you think my hearing will diminish enough to not hear this tone? I'm 48 years old.

If you're lucky, never. There's no hard and fast process involved. It's a matter of past noise exposure and genetics.... I have friends who can still hear 16kHz without any trouble in their late 60s and early 70s, and others in their 50s with significant HF loss.

[RichardT]

I was surprised that I could still hear the 15khz tone, so much that it was actually quite annoying.

Actually 15.625kHz... and try being in a TV production gallery with 30 or 40 CRTs all whistling away!

How did we tolerate this in the past?

Didn't have any choice, did we? But, to be fair, some TVs were a lot noisier than others.

And when do you think my hearing will diminish enough to not hear this tone? I'm 48 years old.

If you're lucky, never. There's no hard and fast process involved. It's a matter of past noise exposure and genetics.... I have friends who can still hear 16kHz without any trouble in their late 60s and early 70s, and others in their 50s with significant HF loss.

Plus it also seems exercise can help preserve hearing into old age.

[Hugh Robjohns]

I imagine it's general good health, rather than exercise per se, but things like high blood pressure and various prescribed drugs can all have a negative effect (just as it does on eyesight and so many other things. So maintaining good health is key to maintaining all bodily functions.

[ManFromGlass]

and maintaining all bodily functions is a key to good health!

[twotoedsloth]

Good exercise is also great as it makes carrying and mounting speakers easier!

[ajay_m]

Sadly despite significant high frequency hearing loss, so that I now require hearing aids, I've had tinnitus at around that perceived frequency for decades. So enjoy that when you turn them off, the noise stops
As for when, it's a progressive decline but I would say I reached 60 before I started to find it difficult to follow TV or what my partner was saying. Never hurts to get regular tests, if you have concerns and of course rigorously manage noise exposure. This is something I very definitely did not do when I was young which I suspect did not help.

[Drew Stephenson]

My hearing never fully recovered after Covid. I lost 2.5k off the top end straight away and whilst a fair bit of that has come back it has never got fully back to where it was.
So just another vote to look out for your general health really.

[ef37a]

Peter, if you found 15625 Hz annoying thank the lucky hairs in your lugs that you weren't around for 405 line TV! That sang at the much more audible 10,125Hz. Mind you, old 405 sets were usually housed in 9mm ply cabinets and the line output stage, the bit that sings, enclosed in a tin can so it wasn't perhaps as bad as it might have been. Also, 405 screens never got bigger than 17" ~430mm IIRC so line scan power was lower than a 26" 110dgr tube.

As TVs went over to barely 3mm plastic cabinets and vestigial chassis we got ever more complaints of line whistle. Almost all from the distaff side of the family. There was actually very little we could do about it but some brands were worse than others. One component called a "Trandsductor" was often the main culprit and a dip in PVA glue shut them up a bit!

Dave.

[Rich Hanson]

And here's me at 56 with very little above 7kHz! I only found this out as a result of an observation on one of my mixes by Drew (which is ironic in the light of what he says above) - he could hear a ringing at about 7.5kHz that I just couldn't hear which sent me off on the path that ended up with hearing aids.

An interesting observation is on hearing sibilance if I don't have them in. When I am not wearing them, some people just appear to me to have a total lisp, whereas some people retain their sibilants. It's an interesting practical observation on how different people have sibilance in different frequency ranges. Of course, I'd rather not have this superpower

In my case though I don't think it's age related - I remember I used to boost the treble so much as a teenager that mum used to complain that it hurt her ears, so I suspect it's been long standing and I didn't notice because the world always sounded like this to me.

[Arpangel]

One of the side effects of the medication I’m on is "enhanced hearing" it's literally like having an exciter on when you’re listening to music, I have to be careful when recording that I’m actually hearing what I’m hearing, if you get what I mean.
But, I can’t hear much above about 10k naturally, it starts to roll off around 7k but disappears after 10k
So what’s worse, the side effects or my natural hearing, my enhanced hearing seems normal now, so that’s what I'm used to, my right ear has an aid, but I don’t always use it unless I really have to, it just makes things sound very unnatural.

[Folderol]

My hearing has slowly lost top-end over the past few years - I don't know exactly how much, but what bothers me more is it's also developed a sort-of resonance that in particular makes tin whistle sounds almost painful

[ef37a]

My hearing has slowly lost top-end over the past few years - I don't know exactly how much, but what bothers me more is it's also developed a sort-of resonance that in particular makes tin whistle sounds almost painful

Called "recruitment" Will. It is a little known paradox that the hard of hearing are often more sensitive to very loud noises than folks with 20-20 lugs.

As it 'appens...I have just come back from having "micro-suction". Mainly on my right ear. The clinic is in an older part of the town and up two flights of stairs
You wait in a corridor barely 1m wide on hard plastic chairs.

Contrast that with the centre I go every 6-8 weeks for my ARMD eye check? Posh, out of town estate with a lovely medical centre. Large, light rooms with magazines and a vending machine. (Google Danes camp medical ctre NN4 ONY)
They say mental health is the Cinderella service? Us muttons are about as badly served!
Oh yes! First time MSucking. Very noisy and tickles a bit.

Dave.

[Rich Hanson]

My hearing has slowly lost top-end over the past few years - I don't know exactly how much, but what bothers me more is it's also developed a sort-of resonance that in particular makes tin whistle sounds almost painful

I've always had something like that and yes it is very annoying. I can remember first noticing it in music lessons as a teenager.

At choir a few weeks back I was sitting closer to the sopranos than normal and I have narrowed it down to be centred around the high G above the treble clef.

I can certainly imagine a tin whistle would easily be hitting around those frequencies.

[Arpangel]

Last night was hilarious, my hearing is going downhill fast, but last night took the biscuit. A neighbour popped in for a drink, he said to me "do you like Whale's eggs? I was given them and don’t like them" I looked at him a bit strange and said what! I've never had them, what size are they? they must be huge, I didn’t think Whales produced eggs?
He looked at me like I was completely crazy and said "QUAIL'S EGGS"

[Folderol]

That one's a classic

[ef37a]

Just back from having the mould casts done.NOW I know what it is like to be profoundly deaf!
I am stuck with temporary moulds for up to 8 weeks, not TOO bad except they give me 'wow and flutter'. Audio tech' said it was because the aid was struggling to drive the narrower tube.

Dave.

[Drew Stephenson]

EDIT - forgot this conversation wasn't in the lounge, deleted!

[Smellthevalve]

Apart from the usual high tinnitus I've recently had a low frequency noise that comes and goes, after speaking to a doctor they ordered some blood tests but nothing has been diagnosed based on that.

[Zukan]

Apart from the usual high tinnitus I've recently had a low frequency noise that comes and goes, after speaking to a doctor they ordered some blood tests but nothing has been diagnosed based on that.

I feel for you buddy. My tinnitus is crippling. It began around a decade ago with a 24/7 sine wave. In the past 5 years, I've added a triangle and a ringing sound. I'm hoping that this year I'll get some drums and keys, and I'll have a full-on band kicking. I don't need any vocalists. I have FB.

[ef37a]

Bit of FYI for any of you who might need micro-suction? Do not, unless told to by a professional, bother with the messy business of Olive oiling your ears. This I found especially tricky to do to myself!

The lady that carried out the procedure said there was no need for it. Naturally if the oil gives you other benefits, carry on.

Dave.

[ajay_m]

If you are troubled by earwax buildup, cerumol is a miracle product and far more effective than olive oil. It's available at most pharmacies I think - it's much less viscous than olive oil. Confusingly, there is a cerumol-branded olive oil product now, but that's not the one you want, it's the original version.

It will take a few applications and as with anything ear-related, be gentle and careful. Obviously it can be a little messy so have some paper towels or tissues handy.

[ajay_m]

and with regard to tinnitus. I did find that putting on a pair of headphones and setting a sine wave oscillator to a low level that was comfortable and well away from dangerous sound levels, then tuning it up to the perceived tinnitus frequency and listening to that for a few minutes a day over several days, did seem to reduce the intensity significantly. I also experimented, using a synth as a sound source, where I could produce more complex waveforms. An FM modulated sine wave in particular seemed to work quite well, at a carrier frequency of around 3KHz and modulated by a non-harmonically related modulation frequency close to that. Again, I stress, the listening levels should be very modest. Some people have found listening to white or pink noise at low levels helps, too.