<story><title>Bose Hearphones</title><url>http://hearphones.bose.com/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>randlet</author><text>Are you sure you have decent hearing?  I thought I could hear what people were saying in noisy environments, but couldn&amp;#x27;t understand anything. This was one of the major symptoms for me before I was diagnosed with moderate&amp;#x2F;severe hearing loss.   It&amp;#x27;s very isolating.   No problems now with a decent set of hearing aids.&lt;p&gt;Have yourself tested!  The quality of life improvement from a set of hearing aids is incredible!&lt;p&gt;edit: I was 31 when I was diagnosed, so don&amp;#x27;t think because you&amp;#x27;re young that you&amp;#x27;re immune.  Generally hearing loss is very gradual so you don&amp;#x27;t really notice it.  If you frequently have to ask people to repeat themselves though...</text></item><item><author>boobsbr</author><text>Wow, this address a major problem I have.&lt;p&gt;I have decent hearing, but when I&amp;#x27;m in a noisy environment like a bar, I can hear but can&amp;#x27;t understand what other people are saying. It&amp;#x27;s why I don&amp;#x27;t like going to bars&amp;#x2F;pubs with live performances or ambient music.&lt;p&gt;People think I&amp;#x27;m bored or brooding because I&amp;#x27;m not talking to anyone, but I just can&amp;#x27;t understand anything anyone says, so I can&amp;#x27;t participate in a conversation.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>tibbon</author><text>I have a similar problem in loud spaces. Given my activities (motorcycling, guitar playing, powertools, etc) I had assumed my hearing was bad, but when I went to an ENT&amp;#x2F;audiologist for unrelated things I had them give me a good test on a whim.&lt;p&gt;For me, the results were that I have hearing ability on-par with a ~5 year old, and they only see adults like me every 18 months or so. I&amp;#x27;ve got a printoff of the chart around here somewhere, but it&amp;#x27;s well outside the normal, especially for my activities.&lt;p&gt;On the flipside, I&amp;#x27;m very ADHD, which I think hurts my loud-space conversational abilities some. I always figure my ears are trying to listen to all of it at once.&lt;p&gt;(Most lightbulbs and televisions drive me up a wall, because I can hear them all the time)</text></comment>
<story><title>Bose Hearphones</title><url>http://hearphones.bose.com/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>randlet</author><text>Are you sure you have decent hearing?  I thought I could hear what people were saying in noisy environments, but couldn&amp;#x27;t understand anything. This was one of the major symptoms for me before I was diagnosed with moderate&amp;#x2F;severe hearing loss.   It&amp;#x27;s very isolating.   No problems now with a decent set of hearing aids.&lt;p&gt;Have yourself tested!  The quality of life improvement from a set of hearing aids is incredible!&lt;p&gt;edit: I was 31 when I was diagnosed, so don&amp;#x27;t think because you&amp;#x27;re young that you&amp;#x27;re immune.  Generally hearing loss is very gradual so you don&amp;#x27;t really notice it.  If you frequently have to ask people to repeat themselves though...</text></item><item><author>boobsbr</author><text>Wow, this address a major problem I have.&lt;p&gt;I have decent hearing, but when I&amp;#x27;m in a noisy environment like a bar, I can hear but can&amp;#x27;t understand what other people are saying. It&amp;#x27;s why I don&amp;#x27;t like going to bars&amp;#x2F;pubs with live performances or ambient music.&lt;p&gt;People think I&amp;#x27;m bored or brooding because I&amp;#x27;m not talking to anyone, but I just can&amp;#x27;t understand anything anyone says, so I can&amp;#x27;t participate in a conversation.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>freyr</author><text>I became unable to understand conversations in noisy bars and restaurants. I had my hearing tested, and it was normal. I can hear one person talking quietly from across the house, but can&amp;#x27;t understand a person right next to me in a bar. It&amp;#x27;s very frustrating.</text></comment>