I've done the test before and know that I'm around 14 in one ear and around 12 in the other. 56 years old with a lifetime of riding motorcycles, and 8 years as a bartender in a loud nightclub. That motorcycle wind noise is killer on your high frequency hearing. I didn't start using earplugs riding until I was about 40.
Very little of what we are talking about here is hereditary. The highest pitch you can hear as a youth certainly is, and the rate at which you experience natural degradation of the high frequencies also is, but that is a very small factor for most of us compared to the slow degradation from accumulated damage from exposure to loud noises. For people exposed to motorsports, rock bands, and occupational noise issues, the natural degradation from aging is probably less than 10% of the degradation you've experienced.
Very little of what we are talking about here is hereditary. The highest pitch you can hear as a youth certainly is, and the rate at which you experience natural degradation of the high frequencies also is, but that is a very small factor for most of us compared to the slow degradation from accumulated damage from exposure to loud noises. For people exposed to motorsports, rock bands, and occupational noise issues, the natural degradation from aging is probably less than 10% of the degradation you've experienced.
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