Retired in 1991. My retirement physical was on a Destroyer Tender in Marseille, France. I was deaf as a post then, but they could not certify any VA disability claims. My retirement date was upon arrival to homeport. They said I could extend and get a "real" physical in Mayport, FL. What did I know? I was a burned out sailor after Desert Storm. I walked off the ship after 26 years of service and never looked back. Zero claims. Am in the process of making VA claims now, have an audiology appointment on 12 February. This'll be a test I won't have to study for.
Can you contact any of your old Shipmates, preferably officers or corpsmen, but anyone with direct knowledge of your hearing loss will do, who would be willing to write a 'buddy statement' as to your hearing problems at the time of your discharge? Those have gone a fair piece in the past of documenting Service Connection for items that don't always show up well in your records.
Thanks. The VA has access to my archived military medical records and I have submitted documentation from my retired medical record from a 2010 audiology exam that says I have "severe hearing loss in the med. to high freq loss". Just before Desert Storm my Captain sent me for an audiology exam, which I "failed". There wasn't time to get hearing aids before deployment, and I retired the day the deployment was over. Also have a VA scheduled audiology appointment in town for 12 February. I think that base is covered.
For the other claims I made a list of as many living and deceased shipmates as I could remember or find by googling. Haven't contacted any yet and haven't found all the contact information yet but if the VA needs "buddy statements" I think I can get a few.
Broke down a year or two ago and had my hearing tested. Came away with certified perfect hearing. Had to ask the doctor to face me and speak up so I could hear her over the reeeeeeeeeee. Explained that it only seemed to impact me when there was background noise like her fan or a crowd.
She told me to avoid crowds if that bothered me. Asked if I wanted to talk to someone about my dislike of crowds.
yep, tinnitus is a read distraction. It's been more than 10 years since my hearing was tested, and I probably need it to be tested again, as The Wife has to have her audios up to the point where I have to leave the room, but she's convince that she has the same auditory nerve deafness her father had and that 'nothing can be done.'
Heh. "65 dB down in the left ear, 55 dB down in the right ear now..."
Down from what? A baseline of 100? That ain't so bad. It's just a little under half, innit? ☺
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Reminds me of 40+ years ago when the Navy was upgrading the surface fleet's older primary electronic warfare suite, a superhetroydyne receiver which had a -120dBm sensitivity with an IFM receiver that had about -60dBm sensitivity. "No worries", they said, "It may be only half as sensitivity, but it sees the whole RF spectrum all at once, unlike the old system which scans it at 1.5 seconds per band in 9 bands. Your probability of intercept goes way up." <---Said with a straight face.
The truth re dB vs dBm:
dB (decibel)
This is the difference (or ratio) between two signal levels. In the case of fiber optic cable, we are comparing the power injected at one end of the cable to the power received at the other end.
If the optical power injected was -20 dBm and the power received at the other end -21 dBm, then the optical loss of the link would be -20 - (-21) = 1 dB.
Every time you double (or halve) the power level, you add (or subtract) 3 dB to the power level. This corresponds to a 50 percent gain or reduction. 10 dB loss corresponds to a tenfold decrease in signal level. A 20 dB loss corresponds to a hundred-fold decrease in signal level.
dBm (dB milliWatt)
This is the signal strength or power level. 0 dBm is defined as 1 mW (milliWatt) of power into a power meter. Small signals are negative. For example, typical LED power sources have an output power of -20 dBm where as Laser and VCSEL sources for fiber optic testing have an output power of -10 dBm.
Interesting. I used to calibrate those for the school district. You would put the cup on a noise source and blah blah blah. You would test various noise levels vs various frequencies. I'm trying to remember...Most freqs, the max for the cal was 80. A couple went to 100.
Awww, I'm sorry. Get those hearing aids I you need them. I have a BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid - basically, a tiny mike that clicks on to a tiny titanium screw in my skull - bone is a great conductor so the sound travels around my skull to my still-functions-pretty-well right ear) to deal with my single-sided deafness (thank you, childhood measles!) and it's certainly more comfortable than the in-ear hearing aids were.
When I am in need, I put on a $70 set of noise-cancelling shooting ear muffs that also amplify. I can hear "What an A-hole...shooting a black powder revolver on the short range pistol line" from 15 stalls down. You wear them at Walmart and nobody even blinks.
Now that would be entertaining if you were to avoid meeting anyone else's eyes and freak out when someone comes close, slaping the side of the headphones while shouting "No touch! No touch!" Have a friend along to shout at whomever tried talking to you. "He's autistic, you jerk! Get away!" "You okay, Daley?" Have him glare at the other customers. Won't no one want to get called out for harassing the handicapped. 😈
29 dollar nc9 tozo ear buds with fabulous noise cancellation but also have a pass thru mode that slightly magnifies ambient. the app for the phone has a EQ so you can boost or reduce certain frequencies.
I have an old ford ranger.. 2000 model that has a huge amount of road noise. Can hit the NC and feels like im riding in a quiet cadilac. the passthrough works pretty good but I don't like it as it magnifies everything.. since I don't have hearing issues per se its not a great feature for me... though I do use it when talking to people as the NC will muffle voices decently also.
I use them a lot as I like to listen to audiobooks and it makes it like im a quiet room listening even when in a crowd... absolutely sucks for the audio part of keeping your head on a swivel though.
I'm not at the horrible stage of hearing but I'm assuming that range muffs work better than hearing aids given how well they do work. And they are much cheaper. So I thought when it became necessary I would try them first.
81 mm mortar (11C) during service and thought I would for sure have hearing loss but it was so minimal as to not be there and hasn't really changed in 40 years. A day of firing those things and my ears would ring that afternoon and evening. make the mistake to face it when it went off and feel like someone hit you with a 2x4 on the forehead. Only ever wore one ear plug and you had to be able to hear the FDC calling commands.. faced the earplug side at the gun when it was going off and just used hand over other side for a sec.
All the loud music, shooting and other loud stuff like tools that I have done and I feel as if I lucked out not to have damage.
however I can't hear as well unless Im tested, when tested it's all good... just a hair off high frequencies on one ear.. ...
I know I can't hear as well though and I think it's more a mental discrimination thing than my ears.. I will hear stuff outside the house the dog doesn't sometimes yet not understand what my wife is trying to say to me. :) EG very hard for me to understand what anyone is saying in a crowd.
Ive notice several changes in addition to that over last few years. Crowded and noisy environments stress me now. Noticed that change in my mom, though she was probably 15 to 20 years older thsn i am now. I think it ties more to physical condition, and health though, more than age.
That's about how LOUD my tinnitus is. Haven't had an audiology exam in a couple of decades now, but was rated 40% deaf the last time. I don't know which increases faster, the age or the number of problems, but old age ain't for the weak of heart.
Retired in 1991. My retirement physical was on a Destroyer Tender in Marseille, France. I was deaf as a post then, but they could not certify any VA disability claims. My retirement date was upon arrival to homeport. They said I could extend and get a "real" physical in Mayport, FL. What did I know? I was a burned out sailor after Desert Storm. I walked off the ship after 26 years of service and never looked back. Zero claims. Am in the process of making VA claims now, have an audiology appointment on 12 February. This'll be a test I won't have to study for.
🤞, Dale.
Can you contact any of your old Shipmates, preferably officers or corpsmen, but anyone with direct knowledge of your hearing loss will do, who would be willing to write a 'buddy statement' as to your hearing problems at the time of your discharge? Those have gone a fair piece in the past of documenting Service Connection for items that don't always show up well in your records.
Thanks. The VA has access to my archived military medical records and I have submitted documentation from my retired medical record from a 2010 audiology exam that says I have "severe hearing loss in the med. to high freq loss". Just before Desert Storm my Captain sent me for an audiology exam, which I "failed". There wasn't time to get hearing aids before deployment, and I retired the day the deployment was over. Also have a VA scheduled audiology appointment in town for 12 February. I think that base is covered.
For the other claims I made a list of as many living and deceased shipmates as I could remember or find by googling. Haven't contacted any yet and haven't found all the contact information yet but if the VA needs "buddy statements" I think I can get a few.
Yup, right there with you. (With the added bonus of a heft dose of tinnitus, just to make things more interesting!)
Broke down a year or two ago and had my hearing tested. Came away with certified perfect hearing. Had to ask the doctor to face me and speak up so I could hear her over the reeeeeeeeeee. Explained that it only seemed to impact me when there was background noise like her fan or a crowd.
She told me to avoid crowds if that bothered me. Asked if I wanted to talk to someone about my dislike of crowds.
yep, tinnitus is a read distraction. It's been more than 10 years since my hearing was tested, and I probably need it to be tested again, as The Wife has to have her audios up to the point where I have to leave the room, but she's convince that she has the same auditory nerve deafness her father had and that 'nothing can be done.'
Heh. "65 dB down in the left ear, 55 dB down in the right ear now..."
Down from what? A baseline of 100? That ain't so bad. It's just a little under half, innit? ☺
------------------------------------------------
Reminds me of 40+ years ago when the Navy was upgrading the surface fleet's older primary electronic warfare suite, a superhetroydyne receiver which had a -120dBm sensitivity with an IFM receiver that had about -60dBm sensitivity. "No worries", they said, "It may be only half as sensitivity, but it sees the whole RF spectrum all at once, unlike the old system which scans it at 1.5 seconds per band in 9 bands. Your probability of intercept goes way up." <---Said with a straight face.
The truth re dB vs dBm:
dB (decibel)
This is the difference (or ratio) between two signal levels. In the case of fiber optic cable, we are comparing the power injected at one end of the cable to the power received at the other end.
If the optical power injected was -20 dBm and the power received at the other end -21 dBm, then the optical loss of the link would be -20 - (-21) = 1 dB.
Every time you double (or halve) the power level, you add (or subtract) 3 dB to the power level. This corresponds to a 50 percent gain or reduction. 10 dB loss corresponds to a tenfold decrease in signal level. A 20 dB loss corresponds to a hundred-fold decrease in signal level.
dBm (dB milliWatt)
This is the signal strength or power level. 0 dBm is defined as 1 mW (milliWatt) of power into a power meter. Small signals are negative. For example, typical LED power sources have an output power of -20 dBm where as Laser and VCSEL sources for fiber optic testing have an output power of -10 dBm.
https://www.flukenetworks.com/kno65 dB down in the left ear, 55 dB down in the right ear nowwledge-base/dsp-fta-series/db-vs-dbm
No that is the amount of loss from 0dB which is perfect hearing… sigh
Interesting. I used to calibrate those for the school district. You would put the cup on a noise source and blah blah blah. You would test various noise levels vs various frequencies. I'm trying to remember...Most freqs, the max for the cal was 80. A couple went to 100.
Awww, I'm sorry. Get those hearing aids I you need them. I have a BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid - basically, a tiny mike that clicks on to a tiny titanium screw in my skull - bone is a great conductor so the sound travels around my skull to my still-functions-pretty-well right ear) to deal with my single-sided deafness (thank you, childhood measles!) and it's certainly more comfortable than the in-ear hearing aids were.
I remember how we used to cheap on those.
When I am in need, I put on a $70 set of noise-cancelling shooting ear muffs that also amplify. I can hear "What an A-hole...shooting a black powder revolver on the short range pistol line" from 15 stalls down. You wear them at Walmart and nobody even blinks.
Now that would be entertaining if you were to avoid meeting anyone else's eyes and freak out when someone comes close, slaping the side of the headphones while shouting "No touch! No touch!" Have a friend along to shout at whomever tried talking to you. "He's autistic, you jerk! Get away!" "You okay, Daley?" Have him glare at the other customers. Won't no one want to get called out for harassing the handicapped. 😈
29 dollar nc9 tozo ear buds with fabulous noise cancellation but also have a pass thru mode that slightly magnifies ambient. the app for the phone has a EQ so you can boost or reduce certain frequencies.
I have an old ford ranger.. 2000 model that has a huge amount of road noise. Can hit the NC and feels like im riding in a quiet cadilac. the passthrough works pretty good but I don't like it as it magnifies everything.. since I don't have hearing issues per se its not a great feature for me... though I do use it when talking to people as the NC will muffle voices decently also.
I use them a lot as I like to listen to audiobooks and it makes it like im a quiet room listening even when in a crowd... absolutely sucks for the audio part of keeping your head on a swivel though.
I'm not at the horrible stage of hearing but I'm assuming that range muffs work better than hearing aids given how well they do work. And they are much cheaper. So I thought when it became necessary I would try them first.
What make/brand?
Sadly a lot of this stuff didn't exist back in the day.
Cheaper than I thought. Caldwell E-Max
https://www.amazon.com/Caldwell-Electronic-Protection-Amplification-Adjustable/dp/B00BD57O8W/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8&th=1
Them: "you're normal."
My wife: "there's no ****ing way..."
81 mm mortar (11C) during service and thought I would for sure have hearing loss but it was so minimal as to not be there and hasn't really changed in 40 years. A day of firing those things and my ears would ring that afternoon and evening. make the mistake to face it when it went off and feel like someone hit you with a 2x4 on the forehead. Only ever wore one ear plug and you had to be able to hear the FDC calling commands.. faced the earplug side at the gun when it was going off and just used hand over other side for a sec.
All the loud music, shooting and other loud stuff like tools that I have done and I feel as if I lucked out not to have damage.
however I can't hear as well unless Im tested, when tested it's all good... just a hair off high frequencies on one ear.. ...
I know I can't hear as well though and I think it's more a mental discrimination thing than my ears.. I will hear stuff outside the house the dog doesn't sometimes yet not understand what my wife is trying to say to me. :) EG very hard for me to understand what anyone is saying in a crowd.
I think the not hearing in a crowd is something ALL of us older folks deal with.
Ive notice several changes in addition to that over last few years. Crowded and noisy environments stress me now. Noticed that change in my mom, though she was probably 15 to 20 years older thsn i am now. I think it ties more to physical condition, and health though, more than age.
Been there done that wear 2 hearing aids. But they are pretty good and very small. If that is any consolation.
That's about how LOUD my tinnitus is. Haven't had an audiology exam in a couple of decades now, but was rated 40% deaf the last time. I don't know which increases faster, the age or the number of problems, but old age ain't for the weak of heart.
That'll happen after a career around P-3 Orions.
Oh yeah, and jets before that… and shooting… sigh
What?