Hearing loss often happens gradually and without someone noticing. According to the World Health Organization, over one and a half billion people globally live with hearing loss. They’ve also found that more than one billion young people, those twelve to thirty-five years old, are at risk for hearing loss due to recreational exposure to loud sounds. There’s also an increased risk as you get older and may naturally begin to lose hearing.
Hearing loss can impact your daily life by causing social withdrawal, a drop in your self-esteem or self-confidence, and the inability to follow everyday conversation.
Here are some common causes of hearing loss:
Exposure to Loud Noises
Punctured Eardrum
Trauma or Injury
Age-Related Hearing Loss
Exposure to Loud Noises
Exposure to loud noises has been found to be the most common cause of hearing loss. Noise from activities like attending concerts, using a lawn mower, or hunting can all potentially damage the inner ear and lead to permanent hearing loss.
To prevent this, it’s recommended that you wear earplugs and keep sounds at or below 70 A-weighted decibels (dBA) when possible. As the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders states, a normal conversation has a 60-70 dBA. Long or repeated exposure to sounds at or above 85 dBA can cause hearing loss. The louder the sound, the shorter the amount of time it takes to cause hearing damage.
Punctured Eardrum
A number of factors can cause damage to your eardrum with one of the most common factors being an ear infection. When your eardrum is punctured, it causes a hole or tear in the tissue that separates your ear canal from the ear drum. While it can sometimes heal without treatment, it can potentially require surgery to fix and lead to permanent hearing damage. By visiting an audiologist, they’ll be able to determine your hearing level by having you listen to a variety of tones.
Trauma or Injury
Hearing loss often happens during a traumatic brain injury such as a concussion, due to excessive force. According to Healthy Hearing, nearly half of all traumatic brain injuries are caused by falls, followed by car accidents and assaults. This can lead to a variety of auditory problems such as tinnitus (ringing in the ears), hearing loss, and/or noise sensitivity. Visiting a specialist after a brain-related trauma or injury is key to preventing any further hearing damage and finding the right treatment for you.
Age-Related Hearing Loss
Presbycusis, or age-related hearing loss, happens gradually as one gets older. You may notice this if you have trouble following conversations, have started to turn your music or TV up to a louder volume, or often find yourself asking someone to repeat themselves. However, there are ways to treat hearing loss such as through hearing aids, assistive devices, and training in speech-reading.
Let OAT Hearing Services Help You
At Otolaryngology Associates Tennessee our team of experts can evaluate your hearing and recommend a course of action such as hearing aids. We’re also happy to work with you to suggest protective measures to protect and maintain your hearing.
In our multiple locations throughout the greater Nashville area, we strive to uphold our heritage of community awareness and accessibility. In addition to our physician office visits, we offer a full range of ENT-related services such as hearing testing and hearing aid fitting, allergy testing and treatment, custom ear molding, cancer treatments, and pediatric otolaryngology.
If you suffer from any of the following symptoms, hearing issues, hearing loss, or diseases, OAT can help:
Hearing loss
Ear infections
Ear tubes
Swimmer’s ear
Ear wax removal
Tinnitus
Vertigo
Eustachian tube dysfunction
Meniere’s disease
Ruptured eardrums
Eardrum holes
Mastoiditis
Hearing aids
Tinnitus maskers
Hunters plug
In-ear monitors
Musicians’ plugs
Custom ear molds
