How noise creates hearing problems

Youth ushers in many privileges and the most priceless one is clear hearing. It is just sad that for those who turn 30, they begin to feel their hearing abilities fade. By age 65, one in six adults experiences severe hearing loss. A recent surge in the number of people with hearing problems results in an alarming statistics, the fact that 20 million Americans suffer from various forms of preventable hearing loss.

What then could be the reason behind the surge of hearing problems up to one third? Excessive noise is the most common culprit. But it would be good to know that not like nerve deafness, damage from noise is preventable. Train yourself to distinguish between just irritating sounds and noises that rob off hearing be it some parts of it or all of your hearing capability. More than just determining what kind of noise it is or how the distance to the racket, it is important to also consider the volume measured in decibels along with tracking the hours, days, months and years that a person is exposed to the noise.

Temporary hearing loss can follow short periods of exposure to excessive noise, while the exposure isn't good for your ears, hearing usually returns within minutes or hours. Permanent hearing loss in different degrees, resulting from sustained or repeated exposure to extreme noise but it changes on the level of loudness and length of exposure time. Decibels begin in the 0 level, the lowest audible to human beings while 180 only happens during a rocket launch. Noise at 180 decibels will cause inevitable permanent hearing loss if no ear protection was used. Noise encountered daily can be categorized in two extremes.

A quiet office or living room may rate 40 decibels, and 70 decibels is representative of busy traffic or a noisy restaurant. Higher sounds will place you in bigger trouble.

For example, factory noise or an alarm clock two feet away usually rate 80 decibels. These sounds can be dangerous if you're exposed to them for more than eight hours. Suffice to say, such is a wonderful incentive for not jamming the snooze button found in your alarm clock for so many times.

In two hours, hearing problems can happen after being too close to a chain saw at work or blasting stereo headphones, while under eight hours, damage can occur thanks to shop tools, lawn mowers or truck traffic. Noise reaching up to 120 decibels that deducts 30 decibels of noise is very much fraught with instant peril while getting too close to a speaker while in a concert, or having close proximity to an abnormally loud thunderclap or sandblasting spells trouble, very immediate trouble. Different gunshot types and jet plane engine noise when taken close to the ear can be excruciating besides making you lose some if not all of your hearing.

What's the best deal? Make sure to stay far from noise and protect your ears always. Circumstances threatening to the hearing must always be reduced. It is best to always check the volume levels of your TV and stereo.

Uncontrollable situations which are excessively noisy are best avoided. The length of exposure must be cut down in the event of inevitable, dangerous noise levels. Get ear protectors, either earplugs or muffs, and use them. Such take out 30 decibels from the noise and are also affordable.

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Article Source: http://www.wellnessarticlelibrary.com

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