Sorry it took so long for me to reply. (I'm at work)
The history you mentioned could definitely lead to a hearing loss. Acoustic trauma (being around loud noise for extended periods of time, or a VERY loud noise every once-in-a-while) is the leading cause for hearing loss in young people.
Without an examination, I would not try to analyze your loss, but the symptom of having problem hearing when backgropund noise is present would make me think you might be experiencing a high-frequency loss. An exam will confirm, or deny this.
To give a quick explanation, hearing loss is not just about volume, but is also about losing the ability to hear sounds in certain frequencies. While most men speak in a lower frequency than women, everyone's speech is made up of BOTH low and high frequency sounds. VOWEL sounds are a low frequency sound. CONSANANTS are a high frequency sound. If you have trouble hearing high frequency sounds, you will hear the vowel sounds much easier than consanant sounds, and speech sounds muffled. It leads to hearing the wrong word.
Also, background noise is registered in our mind as a low frequency sound, so it tends to drown out voices around us.
Hearing aids are not a solution for everyone, but they are less intrusive thatn surgery. With today's methods (both in the technology and the fit), they seem to be helping more and more people with active life-styles.
Get checked, if you can. And, feel free to e-mail me any other questions you may have about this.
That goes for everyone else out there.
<---- The HearingDawg
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The RudeDawg
Known in these Forgotten Realms as Perin LightEyes
and my girlfriends, Pamila and Phil