Hello everyone.
I am 21 year old guy who currently is studying business management degree in uni. However after my degree is finished I am planning to work hard, save money and try to seek career in aviation. Being pilot is only thing I ever wanted to be. However it is very big investment for me and I have some concerns about my hearing.
Back story: when I was 16-17 years old I was stupid enough to blast ~150 rounds out of 9mm pistol without any sort of hearing protection. After that I realised I couldn't hear at all with my left hear and I was feeling dizzy, unbalanced. This one evening of stupidity was enough for me to get ear nerves inflammation in my left ear which was caused by "acoustic trauma". They hospitalized me and managed to get back 90% of my hearing. Balance is all good too. I ended up with loss of hearing in higher frequencies and constant high pitch ringing in my left ear.
Now I became almost paranoid about my hearing. I always have pair of ear plugs in my wallet in case I go to some noisy place.
Now from what I understand I am still eligible for first class medical. Here is my audiogram I did with iphone. I know it is not 100% accurate but it is very close to the audiogram I have from the doc.
However I am concerned about the future. From what I heard pilot loose hearing constantly because of constant noise. I am afraid that after couple of years I will loose my hearing and will no longer be eligible to fly.
So I have 3 basic questions:
1) Am I still eligible for 1st class medical? Will my slight loss of hearing and tinnitus can be a barrier?
2) How likely is it that I will loose such portion of my hearing while flying that I will no longer be eligible for class 1 medical?
3) Is there any special ways to protect my weaker ear while flying commercially in the aircraft? Do airline companies allow to use your own good noise cancelling headsets while flying a commercial liner?
Thank you very much
Sincerely,
Paul