What Noise-Induced Hearing Loss Really Means

21May09 What Noise-Induced Hearing Loss Really Means

We live in an environment where sound is coming at us from all directions during most of our waking hours. In our normal day-to-day activities, we hear sounds from television; radio; normal household appliances such as blender, garbage disposal, and oven timers; and normal traffic sounds while on-the-go in our cars. Those sounds typically occur at safe levels and don’t usually have an impact on our hearing.

But when sounds are intense or are extremely loud and last a long time, the structures in our inner ear can actually become damaged, causing noise-induced hearing loss. These sensitive structures, referred to as hair cells, are small sensory cells with the purpose of converting sound energy into signals that travel to the brain. Unfortunately, once damaged, these so-called hair cells cannot be grown back. The result is hearing loss.

While hearing loss becomes more acute as we age, much of the damage of hair cells occurs at a younger age. Extremely loud decimals of music, close-range firearms, certain machinery, fireworks, and similar sound can cause damage. Some hearing loss is considered temporary, and may last for only a short period before normal hearing is restored. Much hearing loss is considered irreversible, however, although there are aids and supplements like PROHIERAN that can help. A common side-effect to the noise-induced hearing loss is tinnitus, which we have discussed in a previous blog.

Even though past exposure to extremely loud sounds may have already done damage to your hearing, you should protect yourself from incurring additional hearing loss from future exposure to loud noises. If you know you’ll be somewhere or in an environment where loud noises will occur, invest in hearing protection such as earplugs or earphones. If you have young children, make sure their hearing is protected as well. Since adults have often already lost a degree of their hearing, they may be less apt to realize the loud environmental factors around them that can cause harm to a fully-hearing child. While it may be harder to enforce, you should also have discussions with your teens or young adults about the decimals of loud music. After all, this is a case where you can truly say that, “your music is hurting my ears!”