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President Clinton was fitted for small hearing aids in both ears = today after=20 tests confirmed that he had moderate loss of high-frequency hearing. Mr. = Clinton=20 has complained privately for several years that he has difficulty = hearing in=20 crowded rooms and at noisy rallies.
The deterioration in the President's hearing was found at his annual = physical=20 examination at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. Ear, = nose and=20 throat specialists recommended completely-in-canal devices and the = President=20 agreed to wear them, aides said.
Experts said that the type of hearing loss suffered by the President = is=20 common after the age of 40, particularly among those exposed to loud = noise like=20 rock music, gunfire and crowds.
Mr. Clinton has experienced all three, said Michael D. McCurry, his = press=20 secretary, listing hunting rifles and rock and roll as a youth and = political=20 rallies.
''This is a big baby-boomer thing,'' Mr. McCurry said. ''It's a new = thing=20 we're all going to have to get used to.''
Doctors also removed a one-centimeter-wide cyst from Mr. Clinton's = chest,=20 similar to a benign cyst removed from his neck last year. The cyst was = excised=20 under local anesthesia; closing the small incision required two = stitches,=20 doctors said.
The tissue from the cyst was sent to a pathology laboratory for = tests, but=20 Mr. Clinton's dermatologist, Dr. David Corbett, said he would be totally = amazed=20 if it were found to be malignant. The President's health was otherwise=20 pronounced excellent, although he continues to suffer from heartburn, = allergies=20 and episodic lower-back pain.
The ruptured tendon in his knee, which was surgically repaired in = March after=20 a fall at the Florida house of the golfer Greg Norman, has almost = completely=20 healed.
His orthopedic surgeon, Dr. David Atkison, said that Mr. Clinton's = recovery=20 was a month ahead of schedule and that he required little further=20 monitoring.
Mr. Clinton's performance on the treadmill was outstanding, his = doctors said.=20 He ran for 13 minutes, reaching 5 miles an hour at an 18 percent grade = with=20 normal heart function at 90 percent of his maximum heart rate.
His cholesterol, blood pressure and prostate function numbers were = all in the=20 healthy range.
The President was particularly proud of his weight -- down to 196 = pounds from=20 216 pounds at his last two yearly physicals. It is the first time that = Mr.=20 Clinton's weight has fallen below 200 since he first ran for President. = This=20 year's physical was delayed several months while Mr. Clinton recovered = from his=20 tendon surgery.
Hearing specialists said that Mr. Clinton's hearing problems are = relatively=20 common, particularly among aging Americans.
An estimated 28 million Americans are deaf or hard of hearing, and = more than=20 five million wear hearing aids or other corrective devices, according to = the=20 National Institutes of Health.
High-frequency hearing loss like Mr. Clinton's is increasingly = common, but=20 relatively few people seek treatment, said Anne Betsworth, senior = audiologist at=20 the medical center of the University of California at Los Angeles.
''With the population now experiencing more noise exposure, we'll = probably be=20 seeing these problems at a younger age,'' Mrs. Betsworth said.
Normal speech, she said, is carried out at audiofrequencies between = 500 and=20 2000 hertz (cycles per second). Mr. Clinton's difficulties are in the = 3000- to=20 8000-hertz range, doctors said.
That would create problems hearing an individual in a noisy setting, = such as=20 a reception or rally, Mrs. Betsworth said. Mr. Clinton has complained of = difficulty understanding people talking to him in such settings. He has = also=20 said that he has trouble hearing hecklers at rallies, aides said.
The devices prescribed for him are small, cone-shaped aids that fit = into the=20 ear canal. They are unobtrusive but not invisible, and can be inserted = and=20 removed quickly. Mr. McCurry said the President would wear them in large = gatherings but probably remove them ''when he's jogging or just = puttering around=20 the White House.''
Photos: The hearing aids prescribed for the President fit in the ear. = (Jack=20 Manning/The New York Times)(pg. A1); President Clinton on the = Presidential=20 helicopter yesterday after his annual physical at the National Naval = Medical=20 Center in Bethesda, Md. (Associated Press)(pg. A11) =
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