Do you find yourself asking people "What did you say?" more and more often? Are you straining to hear conversations or is the volume on your television blasting most of the time?

You may be among the growing number of Americans experiencing gradual hearing loss. Doctors say some hearing loss is normal as we age, but more and more people (especially teenagers) are damaging their ears through use of personal music players, cell phones and electronic games equipped with headsets and earpieces.

According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, an estimated 10 million Americans have noise-induced hearing loss, and more than 5 million of these are 6 to 19-years-old. It is 100 percent preventable by turning down the volume on the electronic devices and avoiding other sources of loud exterior noises (i.e., firearms, power tools and lawn equipment).

Our ears are made up of three main parts: the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. Each part has its own job in helping us hear sounds. We collect sounds with the outer ear. That sound then travels through your ear canal to the middle ear, where the sound waves are converted into vibrations. Those signals go to the inner ear, which transmits the message to the brain.

Excessive noise causes cell damage and death of delicate inner ear tissue. Noise and sound are measured in decibels and anything over 80 decibels is known to cause hearing damage when sustained over extended periods of time.