It’s been interesting since my hearing loss, learning what sounds I can enjoy and what sounds I struggle with. For example, both of my daughters play instruments. My youngest plays piano, which I find I can really enjoy with my bone anchored hearing aid (baha). My eldest plays violin, and certain notes on the violin get caught by my baha and make it ring. It is moderately annoying, so I often turn off my baha for violin lessons. Between the complexities introduced by my baha as well as having only one functional ear, I have found many noises I like and dislike. Here is my list.

Sounds I Hate:

• Road noise while driving. Especially larger vehicles like full-size SUVs make a reverberation that hurts my ear. Even regular road noise is obnoxious.
• Lots of bass. My baha makes bass sounds very loud and sometimes overwhelming. I will turn it off in situations with a lot of bass or change my music settings to less bass. Some bass tones travel through the skull even without a bone conduction device.
• The beeping my car makes. It is similar to the programming sound my baha has, so it makes the device ring. It’s just an obnoxious tone.
• The weird sounds that I can pick up with my hearing ear against the pillow. Sometimes, with just one ear to get sound, it can be fairly odd when your hearing ear gets blocked. I find the crinkles and crackles of the fabric of the pillow moving confuse me because I don’t have a second hearing ear to tell me to disregard it.
• Buzzers at sporting events. I don’t really understand why the volume of everything at sporting events is so loud. I find it very uncomfortable or even painful at indoor sporting events.
• Humming lights or other appliances. I find lights that hum to be very distracting and to add to my hearing fatigue.
• When my kids make repetitive noises.
• Feedback squeals and other high-pitched piercing noises are extremely painful.

Sounds I Love:

• Water moving. I absolutely adore waves, streams, waterfalls, rain, etc. Water moving is one of the most peaceful and soothing sounds I know.
• The wind in trees. I just love the soft rustle.
• Campfire crackles.
• My husband’s voice. I sometimes struggle with very low men’s voices being hard for me to hear. My husband does not have a super low voice, and I love that I don’t have to concentrate hard to understand him. He also puts in an effort to use good communication skills to make it less fatiguing for me to converse with him.
• Snow and leaves crunching under my feet. There is something so satisfying about the sound combined with the feel. Those are some of my favorite times to be outside.
• Laughter.
• Birdsong. I absolutely love listening to the birds sing on my patio.
• Tenor music. I find tenor tones very pleasant and soothing.
• Cats purring.

What are some of your most and least favorite sounds?