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Good and Bad Hearing At the Same Time

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

A young man wrote:

My girlfriend has a hearing issue. When listening to music, she cannot hear the high, metallic sounds, like cymbals tapping to a beat–sounds that are produced by the tweeter. Sounds that sound like TSK TSK TSK TSK TSK, she cannot hear. She doesn’t have hearing loss, in terms of volume. What is this? Is there anything to worry about?

Although you say your girlfriend doesn’t have a hearing loss, what you describe shows that she does indeed have a significant hearing loss.

The reason for your confusion is that you are partly right and partly wrong in your conclusion. You see, your girlfriend seems to have normal (or near normal) hearing in the lower frequencies so you are right—she doesn’t have a hearing loss in the lower frequencies.

However, as you have observed, she doesn’t hear high frequency sounds—so she does indeed have a significant high-frequency hearing loss.

You ask, “Is this anything to be worried about?”

The short answer is anything that destroys hearing is something to “worry” about. She should address the cause so she won’t lose more hearing in the future.

I’d suggest she head to an audiologist and ask for a “complete audiological evaluation.” Then you both will know exactly what her hearing is like. (It wouldn’t hurt to have your hearing checked at the same time!)

I suspect in her case, listening to loud music over the years has caused this damage to her high-frequency hearing. In the future, if she continues to listen to loud music, her hearing loss will progress to the lower frequencies and you will notice she then will have difficulty understanding you.

The best preventative is not to listen to music louder than 80 decibels. If the music is louder than a person talking loudly, then it is most likely too loud. In situations where the volume is louder than that, she (and you) should wear ear plugs, or better yet, turn down the volume. Both of your ears will thank you.

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Hearing Loss Research & Resources

Free Visor Cards

Download your free Visor Cards for hard of hearing or deaf people here.

Loop Systems

Loop your home or meeting room. Discover how you can hear wonderfully clear sound again when listening to the TV/radio, etc, or when listening to a speaker at a meeting.

Loop systems are one of the best-kept secrets in town. To learn more about Loop Systems and what they can do for you, click here.

Take Control of Your Tinnitus—Here’s How

If your ears ring, buzz, chirp, hiss, click or roar, you know just how annoying tinnitus can be. You do not have to put up with this racket for the rest of your life. This book teaches you many things you can do to help bring your tinnitus under your control so it no longer bothers you.

Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

Sounds Now Too Loud for You?

Hypersensitive to Sound front coverIf some (or all) normal sounds seem so loud they “blow the top of your head off”, or make you wince or jump, or cause you headaches or ear pain, or affect your balance, or result in fear or annoyance of sounds so you feel you have to avoid these sounds, this book is for you!

Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

Hearing Phantom Sounds?

When hard of hearing people begin hearing phantom voices or music, they immediately worry they are going crazy. It never crosses their minds that they are sane and are just experiencing Musical Ear syndrome.

To learn more about the strange phantom sounds of Musical Ear syndrome and what you can do about them, click here to read a comprehensive article about Musical Ear Syndrome.

Or get the book—Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

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Center for Hearing Loss Help

Neil G. Bauman, Ph.D.

1013 Ridgeway Drive, Lynden,
WA 98264-1057 USA

Email: neil@hearinglosshelp.com

Phone: 360-778-1266 (M-F 9:00 AM-5:00 PM PST)

© 2025 Center for Hearing Loss Help – Help for your hearing loss, tinnitus and other ear conditions

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life [which also includes perfect hearing] through Jesus Christ our Lord." [Romans 6:23]

"But know this, in the last days perilous times will come" [2 Timothy 3:1]. "For there will be famines, pestilences, and [severe] earthquakes in various places" [Matthew 24:7], "distress of nations, the sea and the waves roaring"—tsunamis, hurricanes—Luke 21:25, but this is good news if you have put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, for "when these things begin to happen, lift up your heads [and rejoice] because your redemption draws near" [Luke 21:28].