I was 30 years old and on a cruise when I first noticed a problem with my hearing. A creaking sound woke me up one night, and when I rolled onto my right side, I could no longer hear it. When I returned home, a hearing test confirmed a severe hearing loss in my left ear, which did not improve with treatment. A conventional hearing aid did make everything louder, but it did not improve clarity, and I still had to rely on my right ear, for the most part.