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Losing Your Hearing?
Reviewed By: 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. Some decibel (dB) levels for common noises are:
Note: The decibel levels for electronic devices depend entirely on the user and the volume he or she chooses to select. How many times have you walked past someone and you could clearly hear the music playing on their earphones? The same is true of car stereos blasting so loudly in traffic that you feel the vibrations in your own car. That kind of noise-induced hearing loss won't necessarily leave you totally deaf. It will, however, cause temporary or permanent damage to the inner ear. If you are exposed to a loud noise for less than 15 minutes you may experience a temporary hearing loss. During this time you may develop a ringing or clicking in your ears called tinnitus. Over time, continued exposure to the loud sound leads to irreversible damage. Hearing aids or ear implants – applied most often to the elderly – may become more common in younger generations. Tips for avoiding hearing loss: Experts recommend people wear ear protection when using power tools and lawn mowers or if they work as construction or factory workers. For headphones, ear buds or ear bugs, experts say the sound level is too high if you are not able to hear conversations and noises around you. If you wear headphones or ear-buds for a few hours at a time, it is recommended that you give your ears a rest every now and then. Wear earplugs to help protect your ears from the loud beating music at concerts.
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