Now Hear This: Hearing Loss Often Needless
Almost 10 percent of Americans, roughly 28 million, have some degree of hearing loss.
But The Early Show medical correspondent Dr. Emily Senay says it could have been prevented in many cases.
On the show Tuesday, she explained what causes hearing loss, what the signs are that indicate it may be happening, and how you can head it off.
The most common cause of hearing loss, Senay says, is age. Hearing can simply diminish gradually over time. Untreated ear infections are known to diminish hearing. So are certain diseases, including meningitis. And negative reactions to medications can cause hearing loss.
Then, there's the cause that may be the most preventable: noise. The National Institutes of Health estimates that more than 30 million Americans expose themselves to harmful amounts of noise on a regular basis. Figures that seem to bear that out show that many baby boomers have lost hearing earlier in life than their parents did.
Anyone who listens to music through headphones knows that can damage hearing if the volume is too loud. Or if they don't, they should.
But headphones aren't the only source. Built-up ear wax can hinder hearing. There are potentially harmful household noises, such as vacuum cleaners and power tools. Workplaces can be too noisy. Heavy city traffic can be loud enough to cause damage. So can urban construction and the noise that subway trains can make. Noises far away from cities can also cause hearing loss. Motorcycles and lawnmowers and motorboats and snowmobiles and fireworks and hunting rifles can easily exceed 85 decibels. That's amount of noise considered the threshold for potential hearing damage.
To minimize the potential damage to hearing, take it easy on the volume of headphones. One rule of thumb is, if you're wearing headphones and someone else can hear the music, too, it's too loud for you.
Another thing to steer clear of is discomfort. If it's hurting your ears, your hearing may be suffering damage. Make a point of avoiding as many loud noises as possible during your daily routine. If you can't hear someone talking to you from three feet away or less, noise around you is too loud, so consider leaving. And think about wearing earplugs if you know you're going to a loud place, such as a music club. Even sticking your fingers in your ears can help.
And, if you've just been in a very loud environment, go to a quiet place to recover.
As for signs some hearing may already having been lost, Senay notes that most involve listening to other people talk. If you frequently find yourself asking people to repeat themselves, if you respond inappropriately to things people say, thinking they've said something else, if you have trouble hearing people on the phone, or people commonly tell you that you have the TV turned up too loud, or if you commonly hear a ringing, hissing, or roaring sound, those are all signs you should see your doctor.
The next step may be a trip to an audiologist, for a formal hearing test involving sounds of various volumes and pitches played through headphones.
Senay says some hearing loss may be correctible, such as when it comes from a blockage within the ear, from something as simple as a buildup of earwax. That's often correctable.
But if there's physical damage to the inner ear or the auditory nerve, the kind that too much noise can cause, then that hearing is gone. At that point, you can't improve your hearing ability. You can only assist the hearing that remains, generally with a device such as a hearing aid. That's as good a reason as any to protect your hearing as well as you can, as often as you can.
For more on hearing loss, click on the links below:
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
More from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders