I hear perfectly fine. When I'm not in a crowded room, or if someone is looking at me. The rest of the time? Not so much.
What happened?
For more than 25 years, I wore earphones to listen to music. When I went to concerts, I didn't wear ear protection. (I didn't wear it when I cut the lawn, or in other noisy places, like working in a machine shop for 18 months.) All that loud music had an accumulative bearing on what I can now hear.
I gave up earphones when I lost my day job. No need to wear them anymore. I do have an MP3 player, but usually I plug it into my little speakers, which don't play very loud--just loud enough.
When you're younger, you don't care about the long-term effects of noise. Years ago, I remember going to a Rush concert, and when we came out my brother was rather proud of the fact his ears were ringing. I was smart. (I had put in earplugs before the concert began.) Two hours of explosively loud music had damaged my brother's hearing just a little bit more. Me? My ears weren't ringing. I went to one more concert after that, and since have been to none. The music is just too loud, and I now value my precious ability to hear more than I value a couple of hours of listening to a favorite band live. (That's why they have live albums.)
I suppose eventually I'll have to get a couple of hearing aids, and I'm not looking forward to that day.
How about you? Have you damaged your hearing?
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