20 Uncommon Facts About Hearing

Normally, you don’t think or worry about your hearing - until something affects it.

Basic Facts

Those who suffer from hearing loss tend to feel isolated from others. This can cause anxiety and depression.

When you first experience hearing loss, it can affect the higher pitched sounds. When you reach middle age, the upper range of your hearing abilities can decline between 12,000 to 14,000 Hz.

A human’s audible range depends on how high, low, and loud the sound is. We use Hertz (Hz) to measure the pitch of sounds, and decibels (dB) to measure how loud the sound can reach.  

When it comes to the pitch of sound, a human’s hearing abilities begin at 20Hz and end at 20,0000Hz. Our hearing is the most sensitive between the 2,000 and 5,000Hz range. 

The safest levels of sound fall between 0 to 85dB. Over the course of time, any sounds that pass the 85dB threshold can harm your hearing health. 

Hearing: 20 Uncommon Facts

1. The World Health Organization (WHO) has revealed that 466 million people across the globe suffer from a disabling form of hearing loss. 
2. Over 90% of deaf, or hard of hearing, children are born to parents who do not have any hearing impairments.  
3. About three out of 1,000 children in the U.S. are born with some loss of hearing in one or both ears.
4. For adults between the ages of 20-69, the greatest cause of hearing loss is age. Those who are between the ages of 60-69, have the most hearing loss. 
5. For individuals who fall between the ages of 20-69, men are about two times more likely than women to suffer from hearing loss. 
6. A person’s ability to hear depends on tiny hairs known as, cilia, which are located deep inside your ears. If these hairs are destroyed by loud noise, or any other reason, it will cause permanent damage to your hearing abilities.
7. The most common cause of hearing loss is noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) that reaches at least 85 decibels. This is also the type of hearing loss that can be easily prevented.  
8. The smallest bones in the human body are the ossicles located in the middle ear. These are known as the incus, the malleus, and the staples. 
9. Permanent hearing damage can occur after just one severely loud exposure to noise, like a blast.
10. Your ears are constantly active, even when you are sleeping. Your brain knows that it’s time to rest when you sleep, so it doesn’t react to subtle, or sometimes loud, noises.
11. In addition to hearing, your ears help you stay balanced. There are loop-shaped canals located in your inner ear that hold fluid and small hairlike sensors that help you stay balanced. The base of the canals are utricle (an organ in the ear that provides information about horizontal acceleration) and saccule (an organ in the ear that provides information about vertical acceleration).  
12. Ears not only help you hear, but they also help with your balance. The inner ear is made of the cochlea (helps you hear) and the vestibular system (helps with balance). The vestibular system recognizes movement by using sensory cells, which are stimulated whenever the head is moved or tilted. This system is sensitive to any slight movements of the head. Any large, quick, or drawn out movements (such as rotating around) will need time to relax afterwards. This is the reason why a room may seem as though it’s still spinning, even when you have stopped spinning. The vestibular system transfers signals to the vestibular nerve, it then reaches the cochlear nerve and delivers electrical signals to the brain. 
13. As humans age, it becomes more and more difficult to hear high frequency sounds. Cilia will start to break down, which diminishes the ability to hear high frequency sounds. 
14. Earwax traps dirt and debris, which insulates your inner ear. Unless your earwax becomes impacted to the point where you cannot hear, you should not remove it. Any excess earwax will make it out of the ear canal on its own.
15. Some living creatures do not hear using their ears. Snakes use their jawbones, mosquitoes utilize their antennae, and fish hear by responding to pressure changes. 
16. Dolphins do not have ears. They hear with eardrums that are located outside of their bodies. They use sonar, or echolocation, to strengthen their already exceptional hearing abilities.
17. Dogs have the ability to hear frequencies that humans cannot hear. This is why they are able to figure out when you arrive home, long before anyone else.
18. Cats can hear higher frequencies than humans and dogs. Cats have the ability to hear sounds that are nearly two octaves higher than what humans can hear. They have ear muscles which permit them to pivot their ears up to 180 degrees.
19. Monkeys have hearing abilities that are not as sharp as humans. They can hear at frequencies below 8000Hz, and up to 45,000Hz. This is an octave above the upper human limit.    
20. Elephants hear frequencies 25 times lower than humans. They can gather sounds through their feet and trunks.  

If you, or a loved one, have been experiencing hearing loss, contact us at Pure Sound Hearing Aids for a free hearing test and consultation for the best options that we have available for you! 
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Pure Sound services will only be available by appointment and for essential visits at this time. Essential visits include all appointments that require repairs, re-fittings and new hearing fittings. If you are having any problems with your hearing aids, or need supplies for your hearing aids, please call us before visiting one of our offices.

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