My hearing is my bread and butter

I'm a 9-1-1 dispatcher and I've just found out that the ringing I've had in my ears for my whole life is Tinnitus. It got markedly worse recently which is why I mentioned it at all. I thought everyone had this, "head noise." Anyway, I'm just starting out here and I'm wondering if it can affect your actual hearing as well because I'm having to more and more ask people to repeat themselves. It's not a volume thing as much as a comprehension problem. I'm going to see an E. N. T. so hopefully I'll get some answers soon. Thanks!

 

I'm a 9-1-1 dispatcher and I've just found out that the ringing I've had in my ears for my whole life is Tinnitus. It got markedly worse recently which is why I mentioned it at all. I thought everyone had this, "head noise." Anyway, I'm just starting out here and I'm wondering if it can affect your actual hearing as well because I'm having to more and more ask people to repeat themselves. It's not a volume thing as much as a comprehension problem. I'm going to see an E. N. T. so hopefully I'll get some answers soon. Thanks!

Tinnitus can't affect your actual hearing but it might be a sign that there is something wrong in your auditory system so have a hearing test. Hearing loss can happen as part of the aging process or it can happen because of other factors. Almost everybody will loose some hearing function eventually so it shouldn't be a reason to panic and hearing loss can be compensated so I wouldn't be over worried.

 

Thank you, I'll definitely keep you posted. I actually pass an audiologist's office enroute to work. Wondered once or twice what they did

 

I've had tinnitus my whole life - or at least for as long as I can remember. Tinnitus in children is definitely underdiagnosed - for at least two reasons: 1) Children may not be aware something is wrong because it is "normal" to them - and 2) even if they do realize something is wrong, they may lack the language to describe what they experience. Possible causes for tinnitus in children is slight damage to hearing which may be due to low birth weight, high fever at some point in childhood, mumps, and some antibiotics. Very low birth weight or a virus acquired during pregnancy will usually lead to more severe hearing loss (which will not go underdiagnosed).

There is (some) evidence that using headsets where sound is (obviously) introduced directly into the ear canal all day long can lead to damage over time (even at low volume levels). This can/is a potential problem for people in call centres where there will often be background noise (leading to employees turning up their headset volume). Additionally, people with slight hearing loss will need to turn up the volume even further to compensate for their loss. If you use headsets daily in your job, I would recommend that a colleague checks your headset volume (to see if they find it too loud).

Tinnitus cannot affect your hearing, but it can affect your ability to hear.

 

Very interesting! I had scarlet fever as a child...