Prolonged Ringing ; Do You Have Hearing Loss ? By Furkan Kilicaslan

Hearing Loss1 Hearing loss exists when there is diminished sensitivity to the sounds normally heard. The term hearing impairment is usually reserved for people who have relative insensitivity to sound in the speech frequencies. The severity of a hearing loss is categorized according to the increase in volume above the usual level necessary before the listener can detect it.

Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late Human nature often dictates that we have to learn from experience and often don’t see to a potential problem until it’s a reality. Hearing Loss is invisible sense ; We can not see the hearing because of hearing is not visible. It is affect directly your hearing percentage. Don’t wait to the symptoms for protection !

Things To Know About Hearing Loss Hearing loss is a major public health issue that is the third most common physical condition after arthritis and heart disease.2 Hearing loss can affect people all of ages. Depending on the cause ; It can be mild, temporary or permanent. In age-related hearing loss, known as presbycusis, changes in the inner ear that happen as you get older cause a slow but steady hearing loss. The loss may be mild or severe, and it is always permanent.3

Statistics About 17 percent of adults in the United States, 36 million, report some degree of hearing loss. At age 65, one out of three people has a hearing loss. 60 percent of the people with hearing loss are either in the work force or in educational settings. About 2-3 of every 1,000 children are hard of hearing or deaf. Estimated that 30 school children per 1,000 have a hearing loss. Statistic Sources: National Information Center on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, National Institutes of Health, National Council on Aging, and the MarkeTrak VIII Study by Sergei Kochkin, Ph.D.

Modern World Problem; Recreational Deafness4 The modern world seems bent on destroying our beautifully designed hearing system. “Recreational deafness’’ is a term solidly embedded in today’s scientific terminology.

Modern World Problem; Recreational Deafness4 Professional sound mixers working at 110dB levels are flirting with damaged. Some motorcycles and other off- road vehicles can generate hazardous noise levels. The very popular portable music players used with earphones can damage to our ears.

“Blindness cuts us off from things, but deafness cuts us off from people.” 5 - Helen Keller

Noise-Induced Hearing Loss – Completely Preventable6 A major cause of hearing loss in our society is noise exposure. Tiny hair cells in the ear are damaged when assaulted by loud noise. Once those hair cells are destroyed they cannot be replaced. Repeated and lengthy exposure to loud sound – whether is it music or a jackhammer - will eventually produce a sensor neural hearing loss.

Who is Under the Risk Musicians Musicians are particularly at risk. It is their job to listen to the sounds that they and their group are producing, and these may be as high as 135 dB. They have no choice to do this as often as daily; this is their career and their lifestyle. Musicians earplugs are available that can help. The newest and best version reduce the sound equally all across the spectrum, from low to high frequencies. Everything sounds just as good as it did before, only softer.

Who is Under the Risk “If you’re listening to music at 85dB, your hearing is safe for eight hours. Then when it goes up by 3 dB, it cuts the safety time down by half.” So if you consider that the average nightclub soundsystem is around 106 dB, the maths tells you that your ears are safe in such an environment for around 4 minutes. And while hearing protection doesn’t make you immune to the perils loud sound systems, it increases this recommended safety time to 2 hours - a vast improvement...

Who is Under the Risk “People think that tinnitus will never happen to them or that it is just experienced for a short while when they have come out from a club” Monika continues, “and because it goes away after a few hours, they believe it will never get to the point where it may well end up with the condition forever. If they do have it constantly but just in a mild way, they believe that it will not ever get any worse, it can and does unfortunately.7

How to Reduce the Damage to Hearing from Noise You have to raise your voice to be understood by someone standing nearby. The noise hurts your ears You don't hear as well as you normally do until several hours after you get away from the noise.

Decibel Loudness Comparison Chart7 Painful 150 dB = fireworks at 3 feet 140 dB = firearms, jet engine 130 dB = jackhammer 120 dB = jet plane takeoff, siren

Decibel Loudness Comparison Chart Extremely Loud 110 dB = maximum output of some MP3 players, model airplane, chain saw 106 dB = gas lawn mower, snow blower 100 dB = hand drill, pneumatic drill 90 dB = subway, passing motorcycle

Decibel Loudness Comparison Chart Very Loud 80–90 dB = blow-dryer, kitchen blender, food processor 70 dB = busy traffic, vacuum cleaner, alarm clock

Decibel Loudness Comparison Chart Faint 30 dB = whisper, quiet library

“I have hearing loss. What Should I do ?’’ 1-)Hearing Aids8 A hearing aid is an electroacoustic device which typically fits in or behind the wearer’s ear, and designed amplify and modulate sound. Hearing aids advice by the doctors who has serious hearing loss. It must use with under medical supervision.

“I have hearing loss. What Should I do ?’’ 2-) Earplugs Earplugs have more common usage than hearing aids. Because it is cheaper and very easy to use. Earplugs use by musicians, DJs, Music Engineers etc. And also who wants to prevent loud noise in daily life. It decreases the all sound frequencies with the same measurement below high level to average level.

Before The Lose Protect Your Hearing ! Our sense of hearing is irreplaceable. Therefore, the hearing we now have is all that there is. We may use hearing aids, but no hearing aid works as well as our original ears.

References 1-)"Deafness". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.. 2011. Retrieved 22 February 2012. 2-) http://www.auditorysciences.com Auditory Sciences website 3-)http://www.mixmag.net/tech/tech-features/tried-and-tested%3A-monika 4-) ‘’Critical Listening Skills For Audio Professionals’’. Alton Everest, Everest Inc. 2011 March 5-)http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/staticresources/health/hearing/NoiseInducedHearingLoss.pdf 6-) http://www.hearingloss.org/content/basic-facts-about-hearing-loss 7-) http://www.hearingloss.org/content/living-hearing-loss 8-) http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing/pages/hearingaid.aspx