Will my hearing problem disqualify me?

[alexpilot2008]

Hi there, I'm very new here, so would just like to say a quick 'hello' to you all first.

I may be very close to fulfilling a zero to ATPL frozen course in which i am very exited about, but i do not wish to raise my hopes too much as i believe i have a set back, only fait will decide but i never give up hope.

Since a child i have had many problems with my ears, but through age my hearing has improved drastically, as a child i had operations to resolve 'glue ear' (a common problem in children), grommets were inserted and grommets through age have fallen out as they are supposed to, and finally at the age of 23 my ears are very good......BUT...... although i can hear very well in both ears and will pass any class 2 medical hearing test with ease, i feel that an underlying problem is here to haunt me and that very problem is that one of my ears hasn't completely healed. I have 100% good hearing in my left ear and 50% hearing in my right ear. I haven't been to see the doctor about my ears since i was about 13 and left it as that, but my right ear never fully recovered.

Is it possible that i could still have glue even as an adult (even though its not as common in adults), or do you think the loss of hearing is something worst? Well, i am sure a specialist will determine this and appointment to the doctor is booked for this week and i guess i will simply be offered a referal to an ENT specialist.

What's your opinion on my case, what do you think? What's the chances of me passing my class 1.

Im very worried now.

[Kiev23]

Is it your initial class one? and is it definitely 50% in your right ear or are you just saying that you think your left ear is twice as good as your right?

If you are unsure about your hearing, what i would do, is carry out a test on your hearing with someone else (not the CAA) then if u pass that you wont have a problem with the class one, and it will be alot cheaper than the class one. Just make sure u download the class one hearing specification and hand it in when u do a external hearing test. They will tell you if you will pass or not.

[alexpilot2008]

Yes this will be my initial class 1.

When i completely block my right ear i can 100% hear out my left ear.

When i completely block my left ear i can hear only half of what i can in my left ear on my right ear, meaning there is a significant loss of hearing.

I'm sure that doctors and ENT specialists are better at diagnosing hearing problems than they were 10 years ago since i last had my ears checked, and I'm sure there's nothing that they cant fix, i just hope that this problem can be resolved. I am going to be referred to an ENT specialist no doubt by my doctor on Friday, i do hope so because I'm pretty sure that the average NHS doctor has limited knowledge of the ears, i like to call my local NHS doctors " Referral Technicians " as all they do is refer you to a specialist which i am quite pleased about.

My career is hanging on the line over this, i don't want my wings taken from me as you can imagine.

[BYALPHAINDIA]

Hi Alex, Welcome Onboard.

Alot of hearing problems can be treated, It sounds like you may still be able to have a Class I.

Although it can also be serious, On this M & H forum there are alot of other people with more serious problems, And some of them have or have had a Class I.

Good Luck For The Future.

[Kiev23]

Hmmm well yeah its probably best see a specialist, you probably wouldn't have a problem with the class one hearing test if they didn't play the sounds so damn quiet, when/if you do go for it i hope you pass everything and good luck for the future...

kiev23.

[dbdarrington]

This subject rather intrigued me when I was investigating aviation medicals; I'm completely deaf in my left ear which disqualifies me from Class 1 and even from the IR as a PPL (I did check with the CAA) however as long as you pass their audiogram you are fine. There is also something odd about the first time round; apparently they do the audiogram for you first time round but then do a simpler check later on that doesn't require good hearing in both ears to pass. There are workarounds for this; supposedly you can get an FAA license under an FAA medical and then convert it to a UK license without having to do the UK audio (it appears that their hearing standards are rather more lax; you can get a CPL even if deaf, just restricted to flying in non-R/T environments). Let me know how you get on though... Hope you keep your wings =)

[alexpilot2008]

Hello,

Thanks to all of you that has replied to my question, many good answers here.

Well, its Friday and i have been to the doctors, and guess what the doctor said the problem was?

Syringing!!!

Yes, my ears have to be syringed this afternoon. My doctor said that my ears were 'sealed' and no wonder i couldn't hear he said. So for many years as my hearing slowly decreased it turned out that my ears were just filling up with wax and eventually become 'sealed'.

So there is me worrying about there being a serious problem, when overall it just turned out to be wax creating a blockage.

So my message is this, there is no point in worrying over a medical defect when all it could be is something simple as what has happened in my case.

I feel a little embarrassed by posting this question on here now, but at least it shows everyone that a man went to the doctor to fix a problem and it was fixed in no time and has saved me a class 1 medical.

I will post the results of my hearing after i have had them syringed today, just so you all know how affective this could be.

Thank you to all.

Alex

[Kiev23]

Thats great news, deffo post your results. I knew about the difficult hearing test, and what have you, so had my ears syringed literally two days before my medical, and i could hear everything............remember all the other tips......drink plenty of water etc etc.....