Question
The last time I took my physical I just barely passed the hearing test and I had my hearing aids on full blast. The nurse went ahead and passed me on the hearing test but I think she may have fudged a little bit so I could pass.
When it gets to the point that I can't pass my hearing test, do I just give up? Or do I stand up and fight like a man and apply for a waiver? Is there such a thing as a waiver for deafness? Whaat did you say?
Answer
Wow, what a question! Sharon?
I know that many folks do indeed drive automobiles that ARE deaf, I'm not sure they qualify for DOT certification though.
Monty
Answer
First a couple of questions as to how the hearing test was performed.
Was it strictly a whisper test? If so, what was the sound attenuation (how quiet was it?)in the room where the test was performed. Mind you, what may sound quiet to normal ears, can sound very different to one who wears hearing aids. Background noises, such as fans, air handlers, a truck idling outside, background voices, etc. create a background buzz that interferes with the aid's performance.
The best situation is done in a sound attenuated or proofed booth.
Did they put a headset on you and if so, was it a pair that were designed for use with hearing aids? Anything covering a hearing aid will produce a high pitched whistle that will also interfere with test results.
When was the last time you visited your audiologist? Have you had your aids tuned up lately? Were the batteries new? What was the initial cause of hearing loss? Is it nerve damage or conduction loss? There are different types of hearing aids for conduction loss.
How new are your aids? If they are over 5-7 years old, the new ones out are much more efficient with less background noise interference.
As you can see, I need much more info from you.
In the meantime, as soon as you can, you need to see your audiologist. GOT ALL THAT???
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Keeping you safe, healthy, and on the road.
Nurse Red
Visit us at www.Truck.net/abmsVisit us at
Answer
The Nurse stood about 10 feet away from me in a hallway and said words for to repeat. I quess this was a whisper test. A headset was not used. I can't remember if my hearing aids were tuned before or after my physical. I think they were tuned after the physical. I have nerve deafness, congenital. It gets worse as you get older. it is hereditary. My grandfather on my mother's side lost his hearing as he got older. My grandmother on my father's side had the same thing. My father and my maternal uncle all are losing their hearing.
My hearing aids are not the stateof the art. The aids are a couple of years old. But they are replacement duplicates of aids that I bought about 10 years ago. I had insurance on my aids that will replace them if you lose them or break them. The insurance will replace the exact model that you lost, not a new model.
But you made a lot of good points. I am impressed with your knowledge. I can tell from your answer that you know about hearing loss and hearing aids.
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I want to add one thing to the post immediately above. My hearing loss was proabably congenital. It was first caught in a grade school hearing test. However, it was not bad enough to know I had a hearing loss without the hearing test they gave. As I got older the hearing loss progressed. When I was about 35 I got my first hearing aid. Today I am 48 years old.
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I do know a lot about hearing loss, but not because of my medical background as much as personal experience with my daughter.
April had major problems with ear infections as a baby, more so than most. It caused the small bones within her ears to degenerate and she has permanently scarred holes in both ear drums from multiple operations.
Her hearing loss is conductive. The little bones aren't there to vibrate and transmit sound. She wears a bone conduction hearing aid that sits on her head like a hairband and has two pads that press on the temporal area of her head and the bone behind her ear. It vibrates those bones transmitting the sound through her head vs. her ears.
It isn't a 100% restoration of hearing but works much better for her than standard aids.
It isn't pretty but she has learned to decorate it with ribbons and yarns or cover it with her hair. A lot of people just think she's got some new fangled Walkman or something.
One more thing about your situation though. The next time you are going for medical qualification, go to your audiologist FIRST. Have him conduct a REAL hearing test with the aids in place and take that reading with you to the medical examiner.
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Keeping you safe, healthy, and on the road.
Nurse Red
Visit us at www.Truck.net/abmsVisit us at
Answer
Nurse Red, do you have the minimum hearing requirements handy? So and so millihertz in each ear with or whithout a hearing aid. I know it's proabably printed right on the dot physical form.
Answer
Yup, sure do!
"Does not have a hearing loss of greater than 40 decibels in the BETTER ear at 500Hz, 1,000Hz, and 2,000Hz with or without a hearing aid when the audiometric testing device is calibrated to the American National Standards"
Is that what you were looking for?
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Keeping you safe, healthy, and on the road.
Nurse Red
Visit us at www.Truck.net/abmsVisit us at