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[Cassie]

Any other ladies with otosclerosis? How do you cope, do you manage without aids? I was diagnosed over 20 yrs ago and its only of late that I am struggling so a very slow decline in hearing. For those that are unsure what it is, the tiny bones in the inner ear grow abnormally and become fixated causing hearing loss which can progress.

[CLKD]

What does your hearing technician suggest?  Hearing aids are very small these days, indeed they can be fixed to glasses ....... this is about how you feel, not about how others might perceive you. 

[Cassie]

I have had indepth discussions with her am wanting to hear other ladies opinions who also have oto.

[Jellyb]

Hi Cassie,
I have this, its hereditary in the females of my family. My mum had a stapes replacement operation but has always steered me away from it.
Mine is in my right ear. I don't notice most of the time apart from in busy, crowded places like a party or bar.
I did get an in ear hearing aid years ago, but found that it amplified everything, so background noise was worse as well. Even with adjustments I still struggled with it, so gave up in the end.
I just try to seat myself on the correct side of people now, I explain why if I need to.
If I start to lose the hearing in my left ear, I may consider the stapes surgery.

[Cassie]

Thankyou for responding JellyB. Mine is in both ears with a significant loss of almost 70%. I have coped without aids up till now. I hear perfectly well in noisy environments as people tend to raise their voices, dont they, so its only when theres a quiet background that I struggle, which is apparantly typical of the hearing loss with Otosclerosis. I will be getting my aids soon & really hope that they improve my quality of life as I am tending to avoid certain situations and a simple get together for a cuppa at my friends home is now a challeng so really looking forward and hoping I can adapt to them. 

[Jellyb]

Hope that the aids really make a difference for you then.  Hearing loss is such a debilitating thing.  I did feel myself withdrawing at one point, as I felt that I couldn't contribute to a conversation as I couldn't hear the responses if I said something.
Another anomaly is that if I am talking to someone, because of the levels of tone that I can/can't hear, I find myself concentrating more on the conversation next to me, as that is louder.  I try hard to to let on that I'm doing this but it's very difficult to focus on the person that is talking to me!
Good luck!