A simple, universal visual warning system (like a red, yellow, or green noise-level indicator at a concert venue, racetrack, or theme park) instantly conveys danger, warning, or safety to people of all ages. Combined with access to basic foam earplugs and insertion instructions, a simple prompt can transform behavior.
Sound of the Future
Hearing loss began affecting how I saw myself. There is a word in Chinese that describes how I felt: 自卑 (zìbēi), a feeling of insecurity and inferiority that makes you shrink yourself around other people.
Are You ‘Otoaging’?
Otoaging is a new word I coined to describe both the premature aging of cochlear hair cells and synapses caused by noise, and the end result, hearing loss in old age. I was inspired by the term photoaging, used by dermatologists to describe the premature aging of the skin by sun.
Newly Identified Deafness Gene Makes the Ear More Vulnerable to Noise
This study provides evidence that TECTB is a novel human deafness gene. In addition, it reveals a gene–environment interaction in which the variant sensitizes the cochlea to noise trauma, leading to long‐term functional consequences.
How to Protect Your Hearing at Concerts Without Missing the Music
Wear well-fitted protection, create distance from loudspeakers, take quiet breaks, and limit additional noise afterward.
NIH Grant Advances Research Into Hearing Loss
With support from an R21 grant from the NIH, Hui Hong, Ph.D., will investigate how the auditory efferent system changes after noise-induced hearing loss and whether those changes help or hinder recovery.
3 Signs Our Earbuds Are Actually Damaging Our Hearing
Because noise-canceling earbuds are so comfortable and block everything out, people wear them for three, four, five hours straight without realizing the cumulative effect on their ears.
Early Exposure to Healthy Habits Matters
When thinking about exposure to loud sounds, it is important to take a life-course perspective. That is, the health behaviors developed in childhood and adolescence can shape habits into adulthood.
‘You Would Be Better Off Not Playing’
When wearing earplugs earns a reprimand from a master teacher, two high school classical musicians decide it’s time to change the conversation about the risk of hearing loss among their peers.