Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Hearing Loss - The Preventable Kind
Hearing loss comes in many forms and comes from a variety of causes. Some of it avoidable-some of it not. Noise induced hearing loss is the largest group of hearing impairment and it is unique in the fact that it is entirely avoidable. Unfortunately once exposed to very loud noises, the damage is done. The good news is that Noise Induced Hearing Loss is preventable by avoiding noises loud enough to do the damage. What is too loud? Anything that causes you discomfort, or if it is loud enough to prevent normal conversation, makes you have to shout to be heard, or causes a ringing sensation in your ears.
With the increase in popularity of devices such as portable cd players and mp3 players-there
is a large increase in people with hearing loss in their 30s and 20s and as young as their teens. With hearing loss being such a impairment; it is important that we educate ourselves, our children, and our grandchildren about the preservation of our natural hearing and protecting ourselves from exposure to loud noises. This means turning down volume, getting out of loud enviroments, and not being too proud to wear ear protection when we really need to.
What is too Loud?
30dB a whisper
60dB Conversation
85dB RISK LEVEL
90dB Lawn Mower
115dB Rock Concert
140dB Jet Engine
170dB Shotgun blast
