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Hearing loss....sm

Posted: Jun 24, 2012

After more than 40 years of MT'ing, I have lost 80% hearing in left ear and 10% in right ear. This, according to doc, is definitely due to constant sound assault on my ears for all of these years. I now need dual hearing aids; the left ear to compensate for severe hearing loss and the right ear to prevent hearing loss. I will be getting them within the next week. My real concern is whether I will be able to wear either my in-the-ear headset or over-the-head headphones along with the hearing aids. I absolutely cannot afford to quit working, and this profession is all I know.

If there are any hearing-aid wearing MTs out there, would certainly love to hear from you and find out if I will be able to continue to do this job with hearing aids plus headphones.

As an added note, I am still able to do my job great as I still have near-perfect hearing in my right ear, and the in-the-ear headset seems to magnify the sound. So, even if I can't wear the hearing aids with the headphones/headset, I could still work. BUT, the doc said that in order to prevent further hearing loss, I should try to wear the hearing aids all day long.

Thanks for any input.

;

I personally stopped wearing headphones after... - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I began experiencing nerve damage in one of my ears at just 41 years of age due to close proximity digital sound assault to both eardrums (thanks to the many inefficient POS-MTSOs audio platforms out there & POS-Ds). MTs have no idea what havoc this can wreak on the human body in more ways than one. Because of unlimited digital capabilities and technological amplifications, MTs are sitting ducks listening 40+ hours per week to audio via/digital headsets.

I switched to an amplified acoustic surround speaker system that sits right in front of my screen where both of my ears get the full effect of equal balance and safe distance to absorb its impact without the assaulting consequences. I hear better on all of my jobs/reports. It's just a little powerful portable Hewlett Packard USB speaker.

Headphones were originally used for onsite transcribers, so they wouldn't disturb one another performing the same job, obviously couldn't have multiple dictations going at once. However, somewhere along the way the headphones have morphed into being forensic analytic tools to decipher what POS dictators garble, mumble, jumble, speed-dictate, fart, into their dictations...somehow it became the MTs responsibility to figure out (free of charge) via the headphones/headset what these neanderthals are saying. We rewind, turn it up, s l ooooooow it down....rewind again. Turn it up again, and we know it can't go up anymore, but we try anyways, make it sloooooower... Because it's expected that we be forensic audio analysts in addition to MTs. We have been brainwashed to feel guilty, stupid, ignorant, inferior to do this over and over because who wants to hear again, QA got it, no problem, or read their note to check your headset or buy a new one. FU!

Thanks for your reply and input, unfortunately. sm - BamaMama

[ In Reply To ..]
my hearing is so bad that I can near absolutely nothing at a distance out of my left ear, so have to find a way to use headphones along with hearing aids.

I think you should apply for disability - nm - wheres_my_job

[ In Reply To ..]
nm

So glad I read this! - mthead

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm going to look for that speaker. I told my PCP at my last visit that I was losing my hearing from this job and she told me all the audiologist would do is get me fitted for hearing aids if it that bad. At 48, I'm not ready for a hearing aid (despite what my hubby says)! I have my PC volume maxxed out but my headphones have a volume control that I mostly max out, so I am probably destroying the rest of my hearing. Not smart, I know. Maybe this speaker will help me keep what's left of my hearing...

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