Do You Have Hearing Loss and Not Know It?

Do you have hearing loss, without realizing it? Think about it for a moment. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in four U.S. adults who report good to excellent hearing already have hearing damage. Isn’t that surprising?

You know the world is a noisy place, and you’ve had lots of exposure to loud sounds over the course of your life. Some of the places that are loud are movie theaters, sports complexes, city streets, and restaurants. Loudness is becoming a trend. But what’s a shame is that people almost never wear hearing protection. According to a 2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 70 percent of people do not wear any hearing protection.

There are usually rules about wearing hearing protection in loud workplaces, and hopefully people want to and do wear hearing protection there. But no one wants to wear hearing protection in their daily lives outside of work. Some people with mowers, chainsaws, and other yard equipment do, but maybe people should think about it more. The CDC reports that about 53 percent of people with hearing damage do not have loud jobs. But studies show 25 percent of us already have hearing damage and don’t know it.

​Even if it seems embarrassing to wear hearing protection in loud situations, you might want to consider it to protect your hearing in the long run. There’s a free app from the App Store or Google Play that you can download called SoundCheck. It allows you to measure the decibel level of any environment.

For more information on sounds that are harmful, what decibel levels are the most threatening to your hearing, or a free hearing test, contact your hearing instrument specialist at Pure Sound Hearing Aids in any of several Lancaster County, Pennsylvania locations.

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