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138239 tn?1239924924

hearing loss

Our 21 year old daughter has had a moderate hearing loss in both ears, known as a "cookie" bite loss.  Which was found when she was 5 years old.  My question is this:  After all these years, her hearing tests have always been the same, given 1 to 2 dcb. difference,but this year she has had a 5 dcb. additional loss.  We had her hearing checked twice, by two accredited audiologists and both have shown the same results. The 1st audiologist was very concerned, the other seemed like it was a normal occurrence. She does have her hearing checked about every 12 to 18 months. Should we be concerned about this sudden change after all this years?  She also has Hashimotos disease, her thyroid antibodies is over 3000 now & is being taken care of by a thyroid specialist.  What do you think???
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Avatar universal
Hey there - not often you hear of another with cookie bite loss and few people understand how different it is from normal loss.  Mine was discovered in third grade (school testing).  They assumed something wrong with test as I was straight A student.  What was unknown at the time is I was adapting for the loss.  It was very mild with great hearing in low and high range.  The loss slowly progressed through high school from around 20 in mid range to 45 - but manageable.  Hearing aids came out for my type loss in High School - so I continued to function well.  My first year of college (close to same age as your daughter) came the serious blow of my hearing loss becoming very severe in less than 6 months time.  I returned home for testing and such but nothing could be confirmed as to why the loss suddenly dropped so significantly.  I have not had another dramatic loss since that time (my mid range is in the 80's now) but as I aged, the high frequency has deteriorated to around 45.  One wonders if this could be the result of wearing aids in conjunction with age... but know the hearing aids are worth wearing regardless!   I continue to wear hearing aids today - and now in my 40's, am finding that word recognition is beginning to go (so no change in decibels - just greatly reduced word recognition).  So they are considering cochlear implants.  I have reached out to various hearing associations and groups to meet with others who have undergone the cochlear implant and have found the support helpful regardless... if nothing else to just "hear" others and understand that adapting to the hearing world is not easy but can be done.  Have no idea if loss could be result of thyroid  as it does affect many things...
but interesting to find that her hearing loss history somewhat parallels mine!  Just encourage her to continue to wear aids and know she is blessed with technology (finally!) advancing for those who are hearing impaired.  Hearing aid manufacturers were very behind the times for a LONG time by failing to listen to their end users... but the baby boomers have turned the corner for a lot of us - and will be to your daughters advantage!  
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138239 tn?1239924924
When you look at her hearing chart graph it looks like someone took a bite out of a cookie, that's the way the audiologist explained it, she also called it a difficult loss.  On the graph she starts out normal then goes down, down down, then goes up, up up. She has worn hearing aids since 5 years old & we where able to purchase her digital aids a few years ago (which took a big chunk out of our savings), they are wonderful for her because then they can program the aids to fit with her type of hearing loss.  Her loss has always been at 48-50 dcb range, now its at 57.  I too wonder if it could be in relation to her thyroid, I mean after ALL these years & shes been consistent & now it's changed.  She's only 21...
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Avatar universal
I am no doctor, but have not heard of "cookie" bite loss? My own loss is severe, but I have found hearing aids that enable me to live a totally normal life! If your daughter's "moderate" loss is in the 30-40 dcb range, it's time she look into aids. And yes, a 5 dcb loss in one ear is significant enough to keep it monitored. While that kind of loss is more common among older people, it could be that your daughter's thyroid condition is a factor.
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714715 tn?1230813330
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
This type of hearing loss is congenital and occurrs at birth. It is usually not progressive. However it can be progressive due to aging, excessive noise exposure and genetic causes
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