As we age we tend to think that hearing loss only has an affect on older people. Most of us have had past experiences with older people attempting to comprehend words and phrases, or wearing hearing aids.
As you grow up, you start to learn that there is a further factor regarding hearing loss besides aging.
Many people are reluctant to admit they have hearing loss because it causes them to feel like they are getting old.
Hearing Loss Is an “Any Age Dilemma”
Even before we turn 13, audiologists already begin to identify some hearing loss in 13% of cases. Needless to say, a person who is 12 years old is not “old”. Teenage hearing loss has increased 33% in the past 30 years.
What’s at work here?
2% of 45 – 55-year-olds and 8% of 55 – 64-year-olds currently have disabling hearing loss.
It’s not an aging problem. It’s absolutely possible to prevent, although the majority of people may consider it an aging problem. Substantially lessening your hearing loss is within reach.
Sensorineural hearing loss, which is the medical term for age-related hearing loss, is commonly caused by loud noise.
For a long time people have thought that hearing loss was just part of aging. But thanks to modern science we know a great deal more concerning hearing loss prevention and even hearing regeneration.
The Reason why Loud Noise Causes Hearing loss
You should comprehend that loud noise is not harmless if you really want to start to protect your hearing.
Sound is made up of waves of pressure. These waves go into your ear canal. They move all the way down beyond your eardrum and into your inner ear.
Within the inner ear little hairs resonate. Which hair cells vibrate, and how fast or frequently they vibrate, become a neurological code. Your brain can turn this code into conversations, the sound of wind, a warning alert, a scream or anything else you may hear.
The problem is that as noises get too loud these little hairs are injured beyond repair. They die because the vibrations get to be too loud for them to deal with.
If you don’t have them, you can not hear.
Why Noise-Related Hearing Loss is Irreversible
Most kinds of injury can be healed by your body. These little cells never heal. When they are gone, they are gone forever. The more frequently you’re exposed to loud sounds, the more little cells die.
Hearing loss progresses as they die.
Common Sounds Which Cause Hearing Damage
This is a surprising fact 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 way up
- Mowing the lawn
- Using farm equipment
- Riding a motorcycle/snowmobile
- Driving on a busy highway with the windows or top down
- Working in a manufacturing plant or other loud profession
- Hunting
- Playing music in a band
It’s not necessary to give up these activities. It is possible to reduce noise related hearing damage by employing pro-active measures.
Don’t Permit Hearing Loss Make you Feel old
You can acknowledge that you suffer from loss of hearing without having to feel old. In fact, failing to recognize it can guarantee faster progression and complications that will certainly make you feel much older in just a few years like:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Dementia/Alzheimer’s
- Increased Fall Risk
- Social Isolation
- More frequent trips to the ER
- Strained relationships
For people with untreated hearing loss, suffering from one or more of these is considerably more likely.
Prevent Continued Hearing Problems
Understanding how to stop hearing loss is the first thing you should do.
- Sound meter apps are available for your cellphone which can show you how loud things really are.
- Learn about hazardous volumes. Above 85 dB (decibels) can cause permanent hearing loss in 8 hours. 110 dB takes about 15 minutes to cause permanent hearing loss. 120 dB and above results in 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. As time goes by it will become worse.
- Put on earplugs and/or sound-dampening earmuffs when necessary.
- Follow work hearing protection procedures.
- Regulate your exposure time to loud sounds.
- Refrain from standing close to loudspeakers or turning speakers up when listening at home.
- Get earbuds/headphones which come with integrated volume control. They never go over 90 decibels. Most people would need to listen nearly non-stop all day to cause irreversible damage.
- High blood pressure, not enough blood oxygen, and various medications tend to cause you to be more vulnerable at lower volumes. To be sure, don’t ever listen to headphones at above 50%. Car speakers differ.
- Use your hearing aid. Not wearing a hearing aid if you need them causes the brain to atrophy. It’s similar to your leg muscles. If you stop walking, it will be much harder to walk.
Schedule a Hearing Appointment
Are you in denial or putting off on it? Make the right choice sooner than later. You need to know so that you can be proactive to decrease further damage.
Have a talk with Your Hearing Specialist Concerning Hearing Solutions
There are no “natural cures” for hearing loss. If hearing loss is serious, it may be time to get a hearing aid.
You Should way the Cost Compared to the Benefits of Buying Hearing Aids
Many people are either in denial about hearing loss, or alternatively, they choose to “tough it out.” They think hearing aids make them seem old. Or maybe they believe that they are too expensive.
But when they realize that hearing loss will become worse faster and can cause several health and personal difficulties, it’s easy to be certain that the pros greatly outweigh the cons.
Talk to a hearing care professional now about getting a hearing evaluation. And if hearing aids are needed, don’t worry about “feeling old.” Hearing aids these days are much more streamlined and more sophisticated than you probably think!