As we age we tend to think that hearing loss only affects the older generation. You most likely had older adults around you struggling to make out words or using hearing aids.
But just as 30 or 60 only seemed old to you up until it rapidly drew near, as you discover more with regards to hearing loss, you come to understand that it has less to do with aging and far more to do with something else entirely.
Feeling old is the biggest reason why people don’t want to admit they are suffering from hearing loss.
It Doesn’t Make Any Difference What Your age is, you Might Still get Hearing Loss
Even in pre-teens, hearing specialists already begin to detect some amount of hearing loss in 13% of cases. Certainly, somebody who is 12 years old is not “old”. Within 30 years we have seen a 33% rise in teen 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 problem. What you might think of as age-related hearing loss is actually totally avoidable. And you have the ability to dramatically reduce the advancement of your hearing loss.
Age-related hearing loss, referred to medically as sensorineural hearing loss, is most commonly instigated by noise.
For generations hearing loss was considered to be inescapable as you age. But presently, scientists know more about how to safeguard your hearing and also restore it.
How Noise Causes Hearing Loss
You must appreciate that noise is not harmless if you wish to begin to safeguard your ears.
Waves of pressure are what makeup sound. These waves travel into your ear canal. They move down past your eardrum and into your inner ear.
Tiny hair cells resonate here inside of the inner ear. A neurological code is made up from how fast and how regularly these little hairs vibrate. This code will be translated by your brain into the sound of birds singing, someone screaming for help, a waterfall, or any other sound which might be around you.
The problem is that when sounds are too loud these little hairs are injured beyond repair. They die because the vibrations become too loud for them to deal with.
When these hairs are gone then so is your hearing.
Why Noise-Induced Hearing Loss is Permanent
If you cut your body, the wound heals. These little cells never heal. When they die, they are lost permanently. The more you’re subjected to loud sounds, the more little cells die.
Hearing loss advances as they die.
Hearing Injury is Caused by Everyday Noises
This is a unexpected thing for most people to learn. You might 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 industry
- Hunting
- Being a musician
You don’t have to give up these activities. Fortunately, you can take proactive measures to reduce noise-induced hearing loss.
Don’t Allow Hearing Loss Make you Feel old
You can acknowledge that you suffer from hearing loss 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 common in people with untreated hearing loss.
How can you Stop Further Hearing Damage?
Start by determining exactly how to avoid hearing damage.
- Determine how noisy everyday sounds truly are by getting a sound meter app on your smart-phone.
- Learn about unsafe volumes. Above 85 dB (decibels) will cause irreversible hearing loss in 8 hours. 110 dB takes around 15 minutes to cause irreversible hearing loss. 120 dB and above will cause immediate hearing loss. A gunshot is around 140 to 170 dB.
- Understand that If you’ve ever had difficulty hearing briefly after a concert, you already caused permanent damage to your hearing. It will become a lot more obvious as time goes by.
- Wear earplugs and/or sound-dampening earmuffs when appropriate.
- Follow workplace hearing safety procedures.
- Reduce your exposure time to loud sounds.
- Refrain from standing close to loudspeakers or cranking speakers up at home.
- Invest in earbuds/headphones which come with built-in volume control. These don’t go higher 90 decibels. Most people would need to listen pretty much non-stop all day to cause irreversible damage.
- High blood pressure, low blood oxygen, and a few medications can cause you to be more vulnerable at lower volumes. To be sure, don’t ever listen to headphones at above 50%. Car speakers vary.
- Use your hearing aid. Not using a hearing aid if you require them causes the brain to atrophy. It’s a lot like your leg muscles. If you stop walking, it will be much harder to walk.
Get a Hearing Test
Are you in denial or putting off on it? Make the right decision now rather than later. You need to know so that you can be proactive to minimize further damage.
Consult Your Hearing Professional Regarding Hearing Solutions
There are not any “natural cures” for hearing impairment. If hearing loss is serious, it might be time to invest in a hearing aid.
You Should way the Cost Against the Benefits of Investing In Hearing Aids
Many people are either in denial about hearing loss, or maybe, they choose to “tough it out.” They believe that hearing aids make them feel old. Or perhaps they believe that they cost too much.
But as soon as they realize that hearing loss will deteriorate faster and can cause several health and relationship problems, it’s easy to see that the pros well outweigh the cons.
Consult a hearing care specialist today about getting a hearing evaluation. And if hearing aids are suggested, don’t worry about “feeling old.” Hearing aids these days are much more streamlined and more sophisticated than you probably think!
