What did you say?!?
Hear well, live well.
Untreated hearing loss can keep you from enjoying the activities that mean the most to you—like spending time with family, catching up with old friends, or attending a concert or a film. It can also strain your personal relationships, make your work life harder to manage, and put your safety at risk.
Hearing loss is common in older adults and often the result of aging. But noise exposure is another major cause of hearing loss and can affect anyone at any age. Many people may not notice their hearing loss because the damage usually occurs gradually. If you think you’re not hearing as well as you used to, it’s important to your overall health to have your hearing checked.
Check your hearing health.
If you have trouble hearing, you’re not alone—millions of Americans young and old currently live with some type of hearing loss. Ask yourself these questions to find out whether you may be affected:
• Do you often ask people to speak up or repeat themselves?
• Do you have trouble following conversations in a noisy room?
• Do others complain that your TV or stereo is too loud?
• Do others suggest you might have a hearing problem?
• Do you sometimes feel that people are mumbling or not speaking clearly?
• Do you have trouble understanding speech on the phone?
• Do you have trouble hearing the sound of your telephone, alarm clock, or doorbell?
If you answered yes to three or more of these questions, ask your doctor about scheduling a complete hearing evaluation.
Talk to your doctor.
Having your hearing evaluated by your doctor is the first step toward treating your hearing loss. Depending on your symptoms and health history, your doctor may recommend one or more different hearing tests. Two common tests involve listening to a series of tones to determine what type of hearing loss you have, and identifying words to see how well you can understand speech. Your doctor can go over the results of your tests with you, and help you decide what you can do to improve your hearing.
Managing your hearing loss sooner rather than later can make a big difference in your quality of life. Early detection is particularly important for children. Hearing loss can slow down speech and language development in childhood, and have social and academic effects. But treatment can help children with hearing loss reach their full potential.
Protect your hearing.
Noise-induced hearing loss is preventable. According to the National Institutes of Health, sounds at or above 85 decibels—about the level of heavy city traffic—can damage your hearing over time. If you know you’ll be exposed to loud noises, wear earplugs or other appropriate hearing protection. Also keep TVs, stereos, and other sound equipment at safe listening levels.
Decibel (Loudness) Comparison Chart
Here are some interesting numbers that illustrate the volume levels from various sources.
Whisper 10 dB
Normal Conversation 60 dB
Toilet Flush 75 dB
Vacuum Cleaner 80 dB
OSHA Required Hearing Protection 85 dB
Loud Snoring 90 dB
Electric Drill 94 dB
Motorcycle 100 dB
Diesel Truck 105 dB
Chain Saw 110 dB
Fire Engine Siren 120 dB
Pain Begins 125 dB
Jet Take-Off 140 dB
Death of Hearing Tissue 180 dB
Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) occurs when there is damage to the inner ear (cochlea), or to the nerve pathways from the inner ear to the brain. Most of the time, SNHL cannot be medically or surgically corrected. This is the most common type of permanent hearing loss.
SNHL reduces the ability to hear faint sounds. Even when speech is loud enough to hear, it may still be unclear or sound muffled.
Some possible causes of SNHL:
- Illnesses
- Drugs that are toxic to hearing
- Hearing loss that runs in the family (genetic or hereditary)
- Aging
- Head trauma
- Exposure to loud noise
Effects of Excessive Exposure |
Although noise-induced hearing loss is one of the most common occupational illnesses, it is often ignored because there are no visible effects, it usually develops over a long period of time, and, except in very rare cases, there is no pain. What does occur is a progressive loss of communication, socialization, and responsiveness to the environment. In its early stages (when hearing loss is above 2,000 Hertz (Hz)) it affects the ability to understand or discriminate speech. As it progresses to the lower frequencies, it begins to affect the ability to hear sounds in general. |
High Frequency Hearing Test
Check out the hearing test at www.noiseaddicts.com/2009/03/can-you-hear-this-hearing-test to see where your high frequency hearing cuts off. Listen to a set of tones that go from 8Hz all the way up to 22,000Hz. It’s fairly common for people who are over 25 years of age to not be able to hear above 15kHz. How about you?
What Is Tinnitus?
Tinnitus is the medical term for the perception of sound in one or both ears or in the head when no external sound is present. It is often referred to as "ringing in the ears," although some people hear hissing, roaring, whistling, chirping or clicking. Tinnitus can be intermittent or constant-with single or multiple tones-and its perceived volume can range from subtle to shattering. To read more about tinnitus and what it is exactly, visit the American Tinnitus Assn at www.ata.org