Tips to Avoid Hearing Loss

From Dr. Sanjay Gupta

Everyone has done it: You need some momentum on the treadmill, so you crank up your iPod. Or you turn up your car stereo when you drive by a loud construction site or your favorite song comes on and then forget to turn it back down. It might sound obvious but exposing yourself to loud noises for a prolonged period of time may irreversibly damage your hearing. Your body can hear thanks to hair cells inside your ears that transform sound energy into electrical signals. Those signals get sent to your brain. Excessive sound energy damages those hair cells, eventually causing them to die. Our bodies don't regenerate new hair cells and the louder the noise, the more damage that can be done to them.

Here are a few tips to keep your hearing sharp.

TURN IT DOWN At maximum volume, the average MP3 player blares at an ear-splitting115 decibels. Compare that to the noise a power saw makes at about 110 decibels. The American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery says it only takes 100 decibels of sound for
15 minutes to cause permanent hearing damage. If someone an arm's length away can hear what is coming through your headphones, turn the volume down by at least 30 percent. You can also adjust the volume settings on your computer to 60 percent.

CANCEL OUT THE NOISE If you need to use headphones, noise-canceling headphones are a better option. When you block out background noise, it's easier to focus on what you're listening to. You'll find yourself turning up the volume a lot less. Background noise isn't something people often pay attention to, but a person's risk for hearing loss increases depending on how much background noise they are exposed to.

TAKE A BREAK How long you spend listening to a loud noise may also affect your hearing. Continually listening to loud music or being in a loud environment without ear protection for several hours may increase your risk of damage. Give your ears a break: wear ear protection or ear plugs, try to retreat to a quieter location for a few minutes every hour, and pause your music at least once every 90 minutes.

The main point to remember is that loud noise from any source, whether it's your car stereo or a power tool, for a prolonged period of time, will degenerate your hearing.

A new reason for hearing loss: Motorcycle Helmets

While we won't advocate not wearing your motorcycle helmet because of this, recent studies have found that they may be contributing to hearing loss.

While the roar of a motorcycle engine is loud, after scientists mapped the airflow over the riders' helmets, it was found that the biggest source of noise for motorcyclists is actually generated by AIR!  That air whooshing over the riders' heads can exceed safe levels even at legal speeds.

Now, scientists have identified a key source of the rushing din. Researchers from the University of Bath and Bath Spa University placed motorcycle helmets atop mannequin heads, mounted them in a wind tunnel and turned on the fans. By placing microphones at different locations aruond the helmet and at the mannequins' ear, the researchers found that an area underneath the helmet and near the chin bar is a significant sourse of noise that reaches the rider's sensitive eardrums. 

The team also investigated how helmet angle and wind speech affected the ludness. Future tests will move beyond the wind tunnel to real-life riders on the open road...findings may one day be used to design quieter helmets, saving riders' ears for the enjoyment of hard biker rock.  :)

So, while Kenwood is in the business of ears and hearing, we find it important to share this information with you - however we still choose protecting the brain with that helmet for now!

Source: The American Institute of Physics

Hearing Loss and Depression

from Healthy Hearing

Hearing professionals have long believed that there's a relationship between hearing loss and the onset or worsening of depression in some of their patients. A recent study from Australia indicates there may be an increased risk of the life-sapping effects of depression among those who have experienced hearing loss, or seen their hearing loss worsen.

"When left untreated, hearing loss often leads to isolation, depression, and other emotional conditions that can affect both mental health and quality of life," says Sergei Kochkin, PhD, executive director of The Better Hearing Institute. "Yet, hearing loss remains one of the most commonly unaddressed health conditions in America today."

It's Lonely in There

Even people with mild hearing loss begin to experience increasing levels of isolation. As the world fades to a muffle, those with more severe degrees of hearing loss experience even greater degrees of isolation according to the Australian report.

Once-engaged individuals withdraw. The stigma of hearing loss and the choice to not use hearing aids prevents these social people from getting out, seeing friends or even enjoying a nice dinner.

Depression and hearing loss often create a downward spiral. Isolation leads to depression which, in turn, leads to more isolation and so on until the depression is debilitating. Severely depressed people live life day to day. They're less focused, less productive, less engaged in the world and, simply, people with severe depression are unable to enjoy all that life has to offer.

Hearing Loss and the Family

Untreated hearing loss affects not only the individual but the entire family

The psychological effects of hearing loss aren't limited to the person experiencing loss of hearing.

Far from it.

The residual effects of hearing loss spread to all members of the household, to friends, co-workers – the individual's entire "social network." Things just aren't the same when friends have to shout to be heard or have to repeat everything they say. Sometimes twice!

So, many with hearing loss withdraw. They pull back from supportive family members who are "only trying to help." They don't answer the telephone because they can't hear the speaker. Another social outing missed, perhaps.

Hearing loss affects both individuals and their friends and family. It's a stress factor for all, adding strain to even the best, most stable relationships.

Are You Ready For Solutions?

Sure, we all know about hearing aids but not many of us know about hearing aid technology.

Today's hearing aids are low-profile (or totally, tricked-out), they're automated, they provide grade-A sound, they're comfortable to wear and, face it, they put you back in the game.

These are NOT your grand-dad's hearing aids. Hearing aids, today, are tuned by a professional on computer software to address specific hearing loss. They're available in wireless so your hearing aids become receivers for all wireless communications and, voila, you're connected by cell phone again. Linkage is always nice.

If, in fact, you have experienced hearing loss (no one knows better than you) and you feel isolated from family, friends and the TV, are you depressed? Do you spend more and more time "inside" yourself and less and less time engaging life – the external world?

10 simple questions:

• Do you avoid talking on the phone? Let the machine get it?
• Have you had trouble hearing in large, open spaces?
• Do you have trouble hearing in loud restaurants? Do you avoid eating out as a result?
• Do others complain about the loudness of the TV?
• Do you have trouble hearing co-workers on the job?
• Do you still enjoy music the way you once did?
• Do you miss the sounds of life, from birds in the trees to a soft whisper from a loved one?
• Do you become more depressed when hearing loss causes a "problem?"
• Do you think there's a stigma associated with wearing hearing aids?
• Are hearing aids associated with your self-image and self-esteem?

If you answered yes to any of these, you can make things better – and soon. But the first step is yours; the ball is in your court.

If you or a loved one live with untreated hearing loss, call us at 419-534-3111 – and eliminate a common source of stress and depression. You don't have to live with hearing loss anymore.

What to expect when having a hearing test:

A hearing test is a fairly quick, painless, non-invasive test that should be performed by an Audiologist.  Each test should begin with a thorough case history. Why are you having your hearing tested? Do you have any ringing or roaring in your ears? Those and several other questions will be asked to help your audiologist understand your hearing health history as well as determine which tests should be performed. A thorough case history will also help the audiologist in decided what to do after the test - what type of treatments are or referrals are necessary?

Following your case history, the audiologist will physicall examine your ears with a special light called an otoscope. They will look at the appearance of your outer ear, look at your ear canal and also inpect your eardrum. During this examination, the audiologist is looking for signs of disease that may relate to your symptoms. We also look for excessive earwax, called cerumen, that we may need to remove prior to testing.

Next, you will move into a sound-treated test booth for your actual hearing evaluation (if you're not already there).  Here, you will wear headphones. You will be listening to a series of tones or whistles at several different pitches. You will be asked to respond if you hear them by raising your hand or pushing a button, etc. You will also be asked to repeat various words at different levels to determine how clearly you understand speech.  Your responses are called thresholds and are recorded on a graph called an audiogram.

Other tests may be performed such as tympanometry may be done to asses the function of your middle ear and eardrum.

When all the testing is complete, your audiologist will discuss the results with you. He/she may provide you with further recommendations if necessary. This includes the need for hearing aids.  You also may be referred for further evaluation if necessary.

If you suspect you have any amount of hearing loss, or are experiencing moments where speech seems to be unclear, it is imperitive to have your hearing tested as soon as possible. The "Us it or Lose it" principle definitely applies to hearing: the sooner you treat hearing loss, the better the outcome of the treatment.

WHAT is in my child's ear?

Top 12 things removed from kids' ears - by Lexi Walters

found on babyzone.com. Find the full article HERE.

Little kids have little ears—but are enormously curious. And the results of their "What if I ..." experiments often land them in the ER. The top docs at Children's Hospital Yale-New Haven know these tendencies well: There's even a collection on display in their waiting room of common items removed from kids' ears.

Here is their list of top repeat extractions:
1. Cotton Swabs
2. Buttons
3. Pen parts
4. Earrings
5. Springs
6. Moths, flies and other flying insects
7. Beetles and bugs
8. Seeds
9. Pits (think: cherry)
10. Peanuts
11. Button batteries (think: HEARING AID BATTERIES!)
12. Erasers

Motorcycle Helmets causing hearing loss!

Motorcycle helmets, while protecting bikers' brains, may also be contributing to hearing loss. Scientists mapped the airflow and noise patterns to find out why.

College Park, MD: The distinctive roar of a Harley's engine is loud, but studies have revealed the biggest source of noise for motorcyclists is actually generated by air whooshing over the riders' helmets. Even at legal speeds, the sound can exceed safe levels.

Now, scientists have identified a key source of the rushing din. Researchers from the University of Bath and Bath Spa University placed motorcycles helmets atop mannequin heads, mounted them in a wind tunnel, and turned on the fans. By placing microphones at different locations around the helmet and at the mannequin's ear, the researchers found that an area underneath the helmet and near the chin bar is a significant source of the noise that reaches riders' sensitive eardrums.

The team also investigated how helmet angle and wind speed affected the loudness. Future tests will move beyond the wind tunnel to real-life riders on the open road. The findings, described in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, may one day be used to design quieter helmets, saving riders' ears for the enjoyment of hard biker rock, the researchers say.

Source: American Institute of Physics
Note: The article: "Aeroacoustic sources of motorcycle helmet noise" is accepted for publication in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.

Matt Lauer of the Today Show has his hearing tested

Did you happen to watch the Today Show this past Wednesday, August 10th?

If you missed it, Matt Lauer had his hearing tested by Lexington Hearing & Speech Center.  He brought much needed attention to a critical health concern that is under-recognized and under-reported.


"In submitting to a hearing test on the air, Mr. Lauer performed a genuine public service that helps bring attention to the growing health crisis of hearing loss in adults under 65," said Adele I. Agin, LCSW, Executive Director, Lexington Hearing & Speech.


"The truth is that younger Americans are losing their hearing at an alarming rate, and recently I found out that that includes me as well," Mr. Lauer said.  Mr. Lauer, 53, reported that although hearing loss is commonly thought to predominantly affect the aged, currently more adults under 65 suffer hearing loss than those over 65.  He was advised by the audiologist conducting his hearing test that his impairment was attributable to the earphone he routinely wears in his right ear as part of his job.  


"Regular earphone and headphone use is the single most common factor leading to hearing loss in adults under 65.  Teenagers and young adults who 'plug in' to listen to music for hours at a time are especially vulnerable, and parents should make sure their children are getting hearing tests as part of their annual health check ups. Testing is covered by most insurance plans, is painless and take only a few minutes," said Lexington's Audiology Director, John Ioannou, MS, CCC-A.  "Hearing loss is irreversible.  Identifying any problem early on will enable appropriate steps to prevent further deterioration and reduce the impact of hearing loss on quality of life."


Kudos to you Mr. Lauer!  Thank you, from this group of audiologists, for bringing this to the attention of all of your viewers!