When I’m sitting at home and the house is quiet, I can hear a pin drop. I can hear the clock ticking on the wall across the room, so I’m not exactly hard of hearing. But when I’m watching TV or listening to the radio, that’s when I get problems. My wife will talk to me and I just can’t make sense of what she’s saying, plus the speech on the TV/radio also becomes a blur. It’s just that I can’t handle two or more sounds at once. It’s worse watching movie’s on TV because the musical sound track also distorts the movie dialogue. Turning the sound up doesn’t help. is this a common problem with older people? I’m 74 years of age. As the sound levels of my hearing seems normal, would a hearing aid help?
The most common hearing loss in old age is in the high frequencies first, which helps distinguish between sounds. A hearing aid may help. I advise you consult with a medical specialist (not a hearing aid salesman) and get a professional audiometer test.
I failed every one of these at age 12. And 16. And 20. And 30. And 40…
Yet I have passed every audiometer test ever given with flying colors, and have been a successful musician and audio engineer.
Therefore, I suspect this is the “Reader’s Digest” or “Cosmo” version of a hearing test. In other words, worthless.
Just picked the non-profit that looked legit after finding similar self-questionnaires on several different sites. Thought it might help the OP is all.
It might. But it seems overly broad. Almost anyone can find a few items in that list that bother them, which doesn’t mean that their hearing is bad. A professional test is a better idea.
i did have a professional test about 2 years ago and was told my hearing was ok, and the guy said “Don’t get ripped off by people trying to sell you a hearing aid”
I agree, but 2 years ago for a 74yo might indicate it’s time for a new test.
Or you might just have problems that hearing aids can’t address. Just because you can’t handle two people talking at once doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with your hearing. Some people learn to tune one out, and age happens no matter what.
If you are a audio engineer I am in awe of you. But failing the list of questions and passing an audiometer test does not mean the list is a failure. You have done as you should and had futher testing. The futher testing showed you do not need hearing aids.
I failed the test when given by my doctor. She sent me to the hearing clinic and I have a high frequency hearing loss. I love my hearing aids.
If it has been two years since your last test I would get retested. There can be other reasons for your problems and not he a hearing problem.
What you describe was my world before hearing aids. I am 66 and have went to school and worked around load machinery since 1968.
It might be attentional. My boyfriend is 29, no hearing loss, but can only focus on one sound at a time. I know to get his attention before I start rattling off when he’s in the middle of something else, so it’s not really a big deal.
Agreed. The OP’s problem sounds like it has to do with the processing of auditory information (which is largely a matter of the way attention is allocated, particularly at very-fine grained levels, inaccessible to conscious control) rather than acoustics. Unfortunately, that probably means the problem is in the brain rather than the ear, and, although it is not necessarily all that serious (I am not saying it is the beginnings of dementia or anything), there is very likely nothing that can be done. It is just one of those getting-old-really-sucks things. 
(Believe me, I am old enough to know.)
If that is right, a hearing-aid won’t help much if at all with this. All that can do is boost volume, perhaps selectively in certain frequency ranges, which is great if the problem is with the ear as a sound receptor, but no help at all if your problem is with processing the sound information once you have got it, or with the control of the allocation of auditory attention.
It’s a screening tool. That means it can’t diagnose you, it just indicates you should get a real test.
The “can’t sort out two conversations at once” problem may not be a problem with the ears. There’s some brain processing that is involved, too. If the problem is that your brain is having trouble sorting things out a hearing aid won’t help - and Musicat, it’s possible to have “wiring” issues at any age and won’t necessarily prevent a musical career or passing a hearing test.
So you passed the hearing test at one location, but failed at at another? The same test? Wouldn’t that suggest the test was at fault, not your hearing?
Hello! Hello! Is this thing on?? 
No by failing the Readers Digest test it indicated that further testing should given. And further testing showed I needed hearing aids. So neither test was wrong.
And if I failed the first test and passed the second test that would not indicate the first test was wrong.
concentration has a lot to do with hearing. you can sometimes choose a sound, either its direction or characteristic to concentrate on, and somewhat filter the rest.
shortwave listeners or ham radio operators learn to hear singles that are weak or covered by noise or other signals.
if you went into a tv store, with a wall of tv sets on, change one or two to a different channel; you can choose which sound to hear by paying attention to a single tv.
Consider yourself extremely lucky that you do not live in Spain where everybody talks at the same time. I hate it. Like you I have trouble processing two people talking at the same time. In Spain you don’t even need a wife. They get 6, 8 or 10 people in a panel on TV to discuss whetever topic and half the time there’s 3 or 4 people shouting at once with two contradicting each other and another two shouting that they never get a chance to talk. It is the law of the jungle with not a minimum of manners. It gets on my nerves and I have to just change the channel. Sometimes I am interested in following one speaker and I try but I mostly find it very difficult or impossible to tune out the others.
In real life it is just as bad with people interrupting and talking over each other. I can’t stand it. I feel embarrassed when two people are talking to me at the same time because I do not know who to pay attention to. I was taught differently but I guess the concept of manners is outdated.
Moderator Action
This is asking more for medical type advice than a factual question.
Moving from General Questions to In My Humble Opinion.