The assumption is that hearing challenges are something you only have to deal with when you get old.
In one sense, that’s right—age-related deterioration, or presbycusis, is the most common form of hearing loss. However, the second most common form of hearing loss is noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), which impacts the lives of people from all age groups.
The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that approximately 12.5 percent of US children between the ages of six and 19 are already experiencing some degree of hearing loss. The worst part is that they are experiencing sensorineural hearing loss, a condition that is permanent.
Another common assumption is that NIHL only affects someone who is exposed to ongoing noise at work, or who was exposed to an explosion or extreme noise event.
And it’s true that ongoing exposure to loud noise at work is the most common means of developing NIHL. So, why would your child be at risk of losing their hearing?
Unfortunately, children are exposed to ongoing noise delivered through headphones or earbuds from video games, music, and movies from their smartphones or other devices.
Preventing the silent epidemic of noise-induced hearing loss requires awareness and the consistent execution of a plan of action. Our professionals at Hearing + Balance Clinics are here to help you with that.
Some Facts About Noise Damage
Brian Fligor, ScD, chair of the World Health Organization’s Make Listening Safe Taskforce, points out that “human ears weren’t made to handle excessively loud sounds most of the time.”
He continues by noting that “our ancestors had to listen for tiny sounds—a crack of a branch in the woods, for example, or a bird call, indicators of prey they wanted to eat or predators that wanted to eat them. It was rare to encounter anything loud enough to damage the ears, like 110 dBA or more.”
In today’s environment, regular exposure to sounds in the 110-decibel range from motorcycles, chainsaws, concerts, and, worst of all, headphones and earbuds, is pretty common.
How does noise cause damage to your ears?
Fligor explains this as well: “When the tiny hairs of the inner ear trigger the nerve cells to fire, those cells create a waste product. It’s somewhat like your leg muscles building up lactic acid after a very long run.”
Quiet sounds produce little to no waste. And after a short burst of loud noise, the cells have time to rest and clear out the waste. But loud noises for an extended duration do not allow enough time for the cells to clear out the waste, killing the cell.
An easy way to visualize this is the following formula:
Volume + Duration = Damage
After just a few hours of exposure, noise that is only a few decibels above 85 dB (normal hearing level) can begin to overwhelm these cells with waste, causing them to die.
The biggest issue is that your child might not show signs of damage initially, but ongoing noise exposure could catch up with them later in life.
According to the CDC, one in five individuals between the age of 20 and 29 show audiometric notches—sections of their hearing frequency range that are damaged or missing due to noise exposure.
Additionally, damage to hearing accumulates over time, so if hazardous exposure begins earlier in life the potential for increased damage will continue as a person ages.
The Silent Epidemic
It is now very convenient for children to listen to music, watch videos, and play games on personal devices using headphones or earbuds, thanks to modern technology. However, the sound being delivered directly into your child’s ears may be at volume levels you are not aware of.
The best-selling earphones on the market, Apple Airpods Max, produce a maximum volume of around 100 dB. Significant damage to your child’s hearing can occur after listening for only 20 minutes of continuous sound at that level.
We need to make a concerted effort, as parents, grandparents, and teachers, to educate our youth on the importance of maintaining manageable volumes. However, we will also need to monitor the volume levels of their devices to ensure they are in an acceptable range and monitor their hearing health as well.
Are You Concerned About Your Child’s Exposure to Loud Noise?
Someone described being a parent as “wearing your heart on the outside.” After all, is there anything more important or more fragile than the health of our children?
The most common behavioral pattern for parents is to catastrophize and think the worst, but we need to take a reasonable long-term approach when it comes to your child’s hearing health.
In addition to educating our children and monitoring the volume levels of their devices, frequent hearing assessments are a necessity. If you’re concerned about your child’s hearing, whether you have a young child or a teenager, schedule a hearing assessment in our friendly environment.
Use this link to contact us online or give us a call at (706) 549-3111.
