October is “National Protect Your Hearing Month”

October has been designated as “National Protect Your Hearing Month”. This month is meant to raise awareness about the steps that you can take to protect your hearing health. 

The More You Know

Repeated exposure to loud noises can severely deteriorate your hearing health, even after you are no longer exposed to the sounds.  

Any sounds that reach over the threshold of 85 decibels can lead to hearing loss. Some of these sounds may include fireworks, a running lawn mower, or the use of power tools. 

Signs of hearing loss can include struggling to hear high-pitched sounds (e.g. children/women’s voices, an alarm clock, doorbell, or telephone) and struggling to hear conversations when there is too much background noise.    

General Tips to Protect Your Hearing

1. Determine whether the noise is too loud, if you, or someone who you are with, need to yell to hear each other. If this is the case, that means your environment is too loud. Use earplugs or earmuffs. If possible, leave the area.  
2. If it is possible, turn the volume down and periodically take breaks from the noise. 
3. Check out these additional suggestions for protecting your hearing health 

Additional Facts on Noise and Hearing Loss

In the U.S., hearing loss is the third most prevalent chronic health problem. Compared to reports of cancer or diabetes, nearly twice as many individuals report hearing loss. About 40 million adults between the ages of 20-69 experience noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) and about 1 in 4 adults who report having “excellent to good” hearing abilities already experience damage with their hearing health. 

Noise is measured using decibels (dB). The average whisper reaches up to 30 dB, the average volume level in a conversation is approximately 60 dB, and a motorcycle engine is about 95 dB. As mentioned earlier, exposure to 85 dB over a long period can begin to harm your hearing health. Blaring sounds that reach more than 120 dB can instantly cause damage. 

By the time you begin to notice hearing loss, the tiny hair cells located inside your ears may have been permanently destroyed. On average, a person is born with approximately 16,000 hair cells located in the inner ear. These cells are used by the brain to detect sounds. Generally, by the time changes in your hearing can be measured through a hearing test, between 30% to 50% of your hair cells may be damaged or permanently destroyed. This emphasizes the importance of protecting your hearing health.

The only treatment option that may help is hearing aids. They will not restore the hearing that you lost, but they can help to keep the hearing abilities that you still have. 

If you, or a loved one, are experiencing hearing loss please contact us at Pure Sound Hearing for a free hearing test and consultation. We offer many different hearing aid styles and brands for a wide range of hearing loss.  

Please be aware that Pure Sound services will only be available by appointment and for essential visits at this time. Essential visits include all appointments that require new hearing aid fittings, repairs, and re-fittings. We ask that you please wait in your car, while wearing your mask, and place your hearing aids in a clean zip lock bag. We will come to your car to get them. 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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