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The Most Important Thing to Know About Hearing Loss
As we age we tend to think that hearing loss only affects the older generation. Almost all of us have had past experiences with older people trying to comprehend conversations, or wearing hearing aids.
As you become more mature, you start to understand that there is an additional cause of hearing loss in addition to aging.
Most people are reluctant to admit they have hearing loss because it causes them to feel old.
Hearing Loss Is an "Any Age Issue"
Even in pre-teens, hearing specialists already begin to detect some hearing loss in 13% of instances. You'll agree, this isn't because 12-year-olds are "old". In the past 3 decades we have seen a 33% increase in teen hearing loss.
What's going on here?
2% of 45 – 55-year-olds and 8% of 55 – 64-year-olds currently have disabling hearing loss.
The difficulty is not with aging. What you may think of as age-associated hearing loss is 100% avoidable. Significantly decreasing your hearing loss is very achievable.
Age-related hearing loss, referred to medically as sensorineural hearing loss, is most frequently caused by loud noise.
For generations hearing loss was assumed to be inevitable when you get older. But at present, are more knowledgeable concerning exactly how to safeguard your hearing and also restore it.
The Reason why Loud Noise Causes Hearing loss
You should recognize that noise is not harmless if you desire to start to protect your ears.
Sound is composed of waves of pressure. Going down into your ear these waves go past your eardrum and into the inner ear.
Tiny hair cells vibrate here within the inner ear. A neurological code is made up of how fast and how regularly these tiny hairs vibrate. Your brain can turn this code into crowd noise, the sound of wind, a warning alert, a cry or whatever else you might hear.
The trouble is that as noises are too loud these little hairs are damaged beyond repair. The sound shakes them until they die.
If you don't have them, you can't hear.
Hearing Loss Caused by Loud Noise is not Reversible
If you cut yourself, the wound will heal. But when you injure these little hair cells, they won't heal, and they will not ever come back again. Each and every time you are exposed to loud noise, more of these cells die.
As they die, hearing loss progresses.
Hearing Injury can be Caused by Everyday Noises
This is a shocking thing for most people to find out. You may not think twice about:
- Going to a concert/play/movie
- Wearing earbuds/head phones
- Turning the car stereo up too loud
- Mowing the lawn
- Using farm equipment
- Riding a motorcycle/snowmobile
- Driving on a busy highway with the windows or top down
- Working in a factory or other loud profession
- Hunting
- Being a musician
These activities don't need to be given up. It is possible to reduce noise induced hearing damage by taking pro-active steps.
Don't Allow Hearing Loss Make you Feel old
If you're already suffering from hearing loss, acknowledging it doesn't need to make you feel older. The longer you dismiss it, the worse it's going to get, and you will end up feeling older much sooner because of:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Dementia/Alzheimer's
- Increased Fall Risk
- Social Isolation
- More frequent trips to the ER
- Strained relationships
These are all substantially more common in people with untreated hearing loss.
How can you Prevent Further Hearing Damage?
The first step is to learn how to to avoid hearing loss.
- Get a sound meter app on your cell phone, and find out how loud common sounds truly can be.
- Harmful volumes should be avoided without the correct ear protection. More than 85 dB (decibels) can cause irreversible hearing loss in only 8 hours. 110 dB takes about 15 minutes to cause irreversible hearing loss. 120 dB and above will cause instant hearing loss. A gunshot is 140 to 170 dB.
- You should know that you have already caused hearing damage if you have had a hard time hearing, or if your ears were ringing, after a concert. It will get more obvious as time goes by.
- Use earplugs or maybe sound-dampening earmuffs when necessary.
- Respect workplace hearing protection restrictions.
- Regulate your exposure time to loud sounds.
- Steer clear of standing near to loudspeakers or turning speakers up when listening at home.
- Purchase earbuds/headphones which have integrated volume control. These don't go over 90 decibels. Most people would need to listen pretty much non-stop all day to do irreversible damage.
- High blood pressure, low blood oxygen, and various medications can make you more vulnerable at lower volumes. To be certain, don't ever listen to headphones at over 50%. Car speakers vary.
- Put on your hearing aid. Not wearing a hearing aid if you need them causes the brain to atrophy. It's a lot like your leg muscles. If you stop walking, it gets much more difficult to start walking again.
Schedule an Appointment With a Hearing Specialist
Are you in denial or procrastinating on it? Make the right choice now rather than later. You need to be aware so that you can become proactive to minimize further damage.
Get in touch with Your Hearing Professional About Hearing Solutions
There are not any "natural cures" for hearing impairment. If you have severe hearing loss, it's time for a hearing aid.
A Cost-Benefits Evaluation is the First Step
Lots of sufferers are either in denial about hearing loss, or maybe, they decide to "tough it out." They feel that hearing aids will make them appear old. Or maybe they believe they are too expensive.
However when they understand that hearing loss will worsen faster and can cause several health and personal issues, it's easy to be certain that the pros far outweigh the cons.
Talk to a hearing care expert now about getting a hearing test. And if hearing aids are needed, don't worry about "feeling old." Hearing aids nowadays are much sleeker and more sophisticated than you probably think!
