Hearing loss happens when you listen too loudly for too
long.
Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL)—it’s definitely
not something you want:
- It's irreversible.
- Can happen to anyone at any age.
- Symptoms may be temporary but damage is permanent.
It's how you listen that counts. We're
definitely not telling you to pull the plug on the music you love.
We just want you to rock smart now so that you can enjoy a lifetime
of listening to great sounds and hearing your friends and family.
You can prevent NIHL by controlling the volume and your exposure
to loud sound.
Turn down the volume if you notice any of the following
symptoms:
- Voices suddenly sound muffled and are hard to understand.
- You experience ringing, buzzing or fluttering in one or both
ears.
- Your ears hurt after being in a loud place.
- Your hearing is suddenly super-sensitive to noise.
If symptoms last longer than
a day, you should visit your doctor or an ear, nose and throat
(ENT) specialist. Talk to your parents first if you're under
the age of 18.
What can you do to listen longer?
- Limit your exposure to sounds of 85dB (decibels) or louder. HINT:
If you need to shout to be heard, your hearing is likely
in the danger zone.
- If you're in the danger zone longer than the guidelines recommend (see pie chart above), be sure to use earplugs or
trendy earmuffs.
- Take 15-minute "quiet" breaks every few hours.
- If you play a musical instrument, avoid practicing at "concert
levels." Put a reasonable amount of space between you and
your amps.
Care to look inside?
Here's a whirlwind tour of what happens inside those mysterious appendages attached
to both sides of your head. When sound, a.k.a "acoustic
energy," first enters your ear, it travels through your external ear canal
to your eardrum, causing it to vibrate and then:
- The vibration travels along to a series of three bones
in your middle ear chamber—the anvil, hammer, and stirrup.
- The vibration of your middle ear bones transfers the sound
energy to a small membrane that is the entrance to your inner
ear.
- Your
inner ear contains approximately 15,000 microscopic cells, "hair
cells," that respond to the incoming energy and transfer
it to your brain so you can understand the sound. Those 15,000
tiny hair cells of yours are built to be tough, but they can
be permanently damaged when they're blasted by extreme sound.
The damage to those tiny hair cells is what causes you to lose
your hearing.
