Early in life, you most likely started to connect hearing loss with getting old. You may have had older adults around you trying to hear conversations or using hearing aids.
As you begin to get older, you begin to learn that there is another factor regarding hearing loss besides aging.
This is the one thing you should know: accepting that you have hearing loss will not make you old.
Hearing Loss Is an “Any Age Dilemma”
Even before we turn 13, audiologists can already identify some hearing loss in 13% of cases. Obviously, someone who is 12 is not “old”. Within 3 decades we have seen a 33% rise in teenage hearing loss.
What’s at work here?
Out of all 45 – 55-year olds, 2% presently suffer from disabling hearing loss, and with 55 – 65-year-olds it’s 8%.
It’s not an aging issue. It’s absolutely possible to prevent, even though many people may consider it an aging problem. Significantly lessening your hearing loss is within reach.
Age-related hearing loss, identified medically as sensorineural hearing loss, is most frequently caused by loud noise.
For decades hearing loss was thought to be inescapable when you age. However thanks to modern-day science we know a lot more about hearing loss prevention and even hearing regeneration.
The Reason why Loud Noise Causes Hearing loss
The initial step to taking care of your ears is learning how something as “innocent” as noise can cause hearing loss.
Waves of pressure are what makeup sound. These waves go into your ear canal. They travel all the way down past your eardrum into your inner ear.
Here, little tiny hair cells in your inner ear vibrate. A neurological code is made up from how fast and how regularly these tiny hairs vibrate. This code will be translated by your brain into the sound of traffic, someone yelling for assistance, a jet plane, or any other sound which might be around.
The trouble is that when noises become too loud these little hairs are injured beyond repair. They die because the vibrations become too strong for them to deal with.
Without them, you can not hear.
Hearing Loss Caused by Loud Sound is Permanent
Countless types of damage can be healed by your body. But when you harm these tiny hair cells, they won’t heal, and they will not ever come back. The more often you’re subjected to loud sounds, the more tiny cells die.
Hearing loss advances as they die.
There are Sounds That are Common Which can Cause Hearing Loss
This is a unexpected fact for most people to learn. It’s easy to discount:
- 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
- Playing music in a band
These activities don’t need to be given up. It is possible to reduce noise associated hearing loss by employing pro-active strategies.
You Don’t Need to Feel old Simply Because you Have Hearing Loss
You can admit that you suffer from hearing problems without having to feel old. The longer you disregard it, the worse it will get, and you will wind up feeling older much earlier 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 prevalent in people with neglected hearing loss.
Prevent Continued Hearing Problems
The first step is to learn to protect against hearing loss.
- Discover how noisy everyday sounds really are by using a sound meter app on your smart-phone.
- Learn about dangerous volumes. More than 85 dB (decibels) will cause irreversible hearing damage in just 8 hours. 110 dB takes about 15 minutes to cause permanent hearing loss. 120 dB and above will cause instant hearing loss. A gunshot is 140 to 170 dB.
- You should know that If you’ve ever had difficulty hearing temporarily immediately after a concert, you already caused permanent damage to your hearing. It will become a lot more pronounced over time.
- Put on earplugs or maybe sound-dampening earmuffs when appropriate.
- Respect work hearing protection policies.
- Limit your exposure time to loud sounds.
- Refrain from standing near to loudspeakers or turning speakers up when at home.
- Get earbuds/headphones which come with built-in volume control. These don’t go over 90 decibels. You would have to listen practically non-stop all the time to cause irreversible damage.
- High blood pressure, not enough blood oxygen, and some medications can make you more vulnerable at lower volumes. To be certain, don’t ever listen to headphones at over 50%. Car speakers differ.
- Wear your hearing aid. Not using a hearing aid if you require them causes the brain to atrophy. It’s comparable to your leg muscles. If you stop walking, it gets much more difficult to walk.
Make a Hearing Appointment
Are you procrastinating or are in denial? Make the right decision now rather than later. You need to be aware so you can be proactive to reduce further damage.
Get in touch with Your Hearing Professional Concerning Hearing Solutions
There are not any “normal cures” for hearing damage. If you have serious hearing loss, it’s time for a hearing aid.
You Should way the Cost Compared to the Benefits of Getting Hearing Aids
Lots of sufferers are either in denial about hearing loss, or alternatively, they make the decision to “tough it out.” They think hearing aids make them appear old. Or they believe that they are too expensive.
But when they recognize that hearing loss will become worse faster and can cause numerous health and relationship complications, it’s simple to see that the pros greatly outweigh the cons.
Call a hearing care professional now about getting a hearing test. And if hearing aids are needed, don’t be afraid of “feeling old.” Hearing aids today are much more streamlined and more advanced than you probably think!