HHF Celebrates National Protect Your Hearing Month

By Emily Shepard

October marks National Protect Your Hearing Month, part of the American Academy of Audiology’s (AAA) campaign to raise public awareness about hearing protection. Through extensive research and programming such as the Safe and Sound Program, Hearing Health Foundation has contributed greatly to this awareness. To celebrate National Protect Your Hearing Month, HHF has compiled a list of 5 Must Know Facts about Hearing Loss Prevention.

Fact #1: Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) can be contracted in a variety of environments.  Around 30 million U.S. workers are exposed to hazardous noise levels. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) reports that 26 million Americans between the ages of 20 and 69- around 15% of the population- have NIHL due to exposure to loud sounds or noise at work or in leisure activities. 60% of military service members have NIHL or tinnitus, or both. Given this huge percentage, it’s unsurprising that active and veteran service members rank hearing loss and tinnitus as their top health concern.  

Fact #2: NIHL is the most preventable type of hearing loss. The measures needed to prevent NIHL are easy and simple. Just remember the following three words: Walk, Block, and Turn. When exposed to loud sounds, walk away. Block noise by wearing earplugs or other hearing protective devices when involved in a loud activity. Turn down the sound on stereos and mp3 devices. These are some of many ways you can help protect your hearing. Ultimately, the idea is to keep an eye (or an ear) on noises that seem hazardous or alarming.   “For more information about how to protect your hearing, please visit our partner’s page, It’s a Noisy Planet. Protect Their Hearing®.

Fact #3:  Half of classical orchestral musicians experience hearing loss. But that doesn’t mean you should! As stated in our blog post, “The Danger From Noise When It Is Actually Music”, musicians practice or perform up to eight hours a day. Sound levels onstage can reach up to 110 decibels (dB), the equivalent of a jackhammer! Prolonged exposure to 85 dB (the sound of heavy traffic), causes hair cells of the inner ear to be permanently damaged and can lead to hearing loss. With an 85 dB minimum for this risk, musicians exposed to jackhammer-levels are in dangerous territory. Attending an orchestra show or any other musically-vibrant production may not put you at the same risk of musicians, but it is still important to take cautionary measures. Find a seat that isn’t too close to the front of the stage and bring earplugs in case the music gets too loud. If the sound becomes especially loud, it might be worthwhile to leave early. Since soundtracks and recordings of shows are often available for purchase, there’s no need to stay out of fear of missing out. Remember, safety should always come first.  

Fact #4: What commonly used portable device is louder than a hair dryer, dishwasher, heavy city traffic, and a subway platform? The correct answer is an MP3 player at maximum volume (105 dB). Listening to your favorite artists or podcasts on blast may seem like a thrill, but there’s nothing fun about subjecting your ears to hazardous noise levels. 1 in 5 teenagers, an age group that frequently uses MP3 players, suffer from hearing loss. The Palo Alto Medical Foundation reports that 12.5% of kids between the ages of 6 and 19 suffer from loss of hearing as a result of using ear phones or earbuds turned to a high volume. So to play it safe, HHF suggests no more than 15 minutes of unprotected exposure at or above 100 decibels.  

Fact #5: Steps to prevent hearing loss should begin the moment someone is born. In 1993, only 5% of newborns were tested at birth for hearing loss. Thanks to HHF’s instrumental role in establishing Universal Newborn Hearing Screening legislation, this percentage increased dramatically. By 2007, 94% of newborns were tested. Early detection of hearing impairments in infants can help to diminish or even eliminate negative impacts that would otherwise harm their future development. Therefore it is important to screen infants for hearing impairments, preferably before they are discharged from the hospital. You can learn about the different types of tests hospitals use to screen infants here.  

World Heart Day

By the Better Hearing Institute

World Heart Day is today, September 29th. In response to a growing body of research showing a link between cardiovascular and hearing health, Hearing Health Foundation and Better Hearing Institute (BHI) are urging you to check your hearing.

Raymond Hull, PhD, professor of communication sciences and disorders in audiology and neurosciences at Wichita State University, recently completed research analyzing 84 years of work from scientists worldwide on the connection between cardiovascular health and the ability to hear and understand what others are saying. Hull’s work, which reviewed 70 scientific studies, confirmed a direct link.
 
According to Hull, “Our entire auditory system, especially the blood vessels of the inner ear, needs an oxygen-rich nutrient supply. If it doesn't get it due to cardiovascular health problems, then hearing can be affected."  
 
While there are many possible causes of hearing loss, cardiovascular disease appears to exaggerate the impact of those causes and intensify the degree of hearing decline, says Hull. This compounded effect not only increases the difficulty a person experiences in perceiving what has been said, but also diminishes their ability to make sense of what they hear with speed and accuracy.

Could hearing loss be an early sign of cardiovascular disease?

Research is ongoing, but a number of findings suggest that keeping track of your hearing may help you monitor your cardiovascular health as well.

“The inner ear is so sensitive to blood flow that it is possible that abnormalities in the cardiovascular system could be noted here earlier than in other less sensitive parts of the body,” according to David R. Friedland, MD, PhD, Professor and Vice-Chair of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.

In Dr. Friedland’s own 2009 study, published in The Laryngoscope, he and fellow researchers found that audiogram pattern correlates strongly with cerebrovascular and peripheral arterial disease and may represent a screening test for those at risk. They even concluded that patients with low-frequency hearing loss should be regarded as at risk for cardiovascular events, and appropriate referrals should be considered.

More recently, a 2014-published study by researchers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison found that the risk of hearing impairment was significantly greater in people with underlying atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, than in those without vessel abnormalities, suggesting that hearing loss may be an early sign of cardiovascular disease in apparently healthy people, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal. The study involved a large cohort of middle-aged participants and showed that hearing loss is common in people in their forties. 

3 Heart-Healthy Reasons to Get a Hearing Test

1. Six decades of research points to heart-hearing health link: Specifically, the study authors concluded that the negative influence of impaired cardiovascular health on both the peripheral and central auditory system—and the potential positive influence of improved cardiovascular health on these same systems—have been found through a sizable body of research.
   

2. The ear may be a window to the heart: Some experts find the evidence showing a link between cardiovascular and hearing health so compelling that they say the ear may be a window to the heart. They encourage collaboration between hearing care providers, cardiologists, and other healthcare professionals. Some even call on hearing care professionals to include cardiovascular health in patient case history and to measure their patients’ blood pressure.
   

3. The same lifestyle behaviors that affect the heart impact hearing. A higher level of physical activity is associated with a lower risk of hearing loss in women. Another revealed that smokers and passive smokers are more likely to suffer hearing loss. And a third found that regular fish consumption and higher intake of long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids are associated with a lower risk of hearing loss in women. Coincidence? Or does it all come back to blood flow to the inner ear? Research is ongoing.

The content for this blog post originated in a press release issued by The Better Hearing Institute on September 15, 2015.

Using Words Carefully

By Jane Madell, Au.D.

We are all influenced by words. Some have easy, uncomplicated meanings (book, tree, house) and others carry a lot of emotional baggage (disabled, slow, delayed, etc.). When audiologists talk with families and children we are working with, we need to think carefully about how we describe children and test results. We do not want our words to interfere with our message.

Normal vs. Abnormal

What does it mean to say that a child’s behavior or test results are “abnormal”? Is there another way we can discuss this? Can we talk about what we expect to see and compare it to what we are seeing? We need to be sure we are talking about a specific test or behavior and not making a statement about the whole child. We need to be sure we are not saying, “Your child is abnormal.” We are saying, “Your child’s hearing is abnormal.” In audiology we might say, “Children with typical hearing have responses above this line on the audiogram. Your child’s hearing is below this line.” When describing speech perception testing, we can talk about what typical children can understand and what we may need to do to help this child understand speech better. A speech-language pathologist or listening and spoken language specialist might say, “Children with typical language development have a vocabulary of XX words at this age, your child has a vocabulary of XX words.”

Describing strengths and weaknesses

It is more useful to describe a child’s strength and weaknesses than to describe a child as having a disability (unless you are trying to get a school district to agree to services in an Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting). Labeling a child as “disabled” does nothing to plan remediation. It is much more useful to make a list of strengths and areas of weakness. The areas of weakness, carefully defined, can result in a treatment plan. If testing identifies a hearing loss, it provides an opportunity to discuss possibilities for remediation such as selecting technology or determining therapy options. If a speech-language evaluation indicates specific areas of weakness (e.g, vocabulary, auditory memory, etc.), the report should discuss how these areas of weakness will affect language and literacy, and the therapy plan should specifically list areas to be worked on to improve skills.

When discussing test results with a child we need to remember that this is likely going to be distressing and we need remind the child that everyone has areas of strength and weakness, and we need to be sure to remind her what her strengths are.

Giving criticism or suggestions

Kids with hearing loss and other disabilities that affect access to academic information find it difficult to deal with the constant need for extra help, etc. They spend hours a week in therapy of one kind or another where they are working on areas of weakness and things that are difficult. They may be receiving preview and review services in school to help them keep up. The very fact that they need to go to see the teacher of the deaf for these services is an indication to the child that he is different than the other kids in his classroom. We need to be sure we are providing positive feedback along with areas needing improvement. If we need to give criticism, sandwich it between positive statements. While we need to give kids honest information, we need to be careful how we explain it. There is no value in telling kids that their work is “bad” or “poor,” or that “if they worked harder they would be able to do better.” We need to encourage them to work hard, but we will accomplish it more easily by being positive.

Teaching self-advocacy

An important part of success is helping kids advocate for themselves. It is very tempting as parents and professionals to advocate for our children. But we are not always there, so we need to help kids learn to advocate for themselves. They need to understand that they have a disability, and while this is not a statement about who they are as a person, it is a statement about what is needed to help them hear or learn. Talk about how to, recognize when you have missed something, and how to ask for help. If you do not know what page the teacher said to go to, raise your hand and ask for repetition, or look at your neighbor’s book. If you do not hear the answers of other kids to a teacher’s questions, ask the teacher to repeat. If you miss a friend’s comment, ask what was said. Practicing how to ask is very useful with parents or therapists modeling how to ask.

Introducing kids to others with the same disability

Kids need to know that they are not alone. When working with a child with hearing loss, it is useful to introduce them to other kids and to adults who have hearing loss. If there are celebrities who have hearing loss, it will make kids feel terrific to know about them. It helps them to understand that hearing loss is not going to interfere with being who they want to be. When it became public that Derrick Coleman has a hearing loss, it gave a boost to a lot of kids with hearing loss. I personally loved the commercial that Duracell put out with him saying something like, “They told me I couldn’t do this, but I was deaf so I didn’t listen.” What a powerful statement for kids!! Meeting physicians, audiologists, or teachers with hearing loss opens doors for kids. Audiologists, speech-language pathologists, listening and spoken language specialists, teachers of the deaf, and families can seek out adults with hearing loss for kids and parents to meet. It will help everyone feel stronger.

This post originally appeared on Hearing Health @ Hearing Health & Technology Matters’ blog on June 16, 2015. The author, Jane Madell, Au.D., is an audiologist, speech-language pathologist, and auditory verbal therapist with 40-plus years of experience in the greater New York City area.  

Selecting the Right Earmuff

By Colin MacKenzie and Gary Klee

When combining hearing protection with safety glasses, face masks, etc., ensure performance is not adversely affected.

Wearing hearing protection can mean the difference between enjoying the sounds of everyday life and a lifetime of disability. Every day, we are exposed to potentially hazardous environmental noise. It is, therefore, critical that workers who must be present where the noise level is high and constant select either a muff or plug protector to reduce the noise level to an acceptable level. We will now discuss the factors you should consider when selecting the correct earmuff for the job.

Step 1: Determining Your Noise Level

Is the noise level and frequency content known (dB and Hz)?

If not, see the list of common noise sources on the next page. On some machines and power tools, you can find the dB level in the user manual or stated on a label on the machine.

If yes, follow this example: It is recommended that the calculated level under the earmuff should be under 85 dB (A). Therefore, subtract 85 dB from the noise level dB to find out the minimum protection level needed. The key is to provide enough attenuation but not enough to overprotect the wearer. Understand your whole-shift noise exposures and select the earmuff on the basis of that exposure, and do not use the highest measured noise level as your guide.

Example:

If you use a chainsaw, and the dB level is 110 dB (A). The recommended level under the ear cup should be below 85 dB (A). Therefore, you need an earmuff with an attenuation of at least 25 dB (110–85 =25).

When to consider selecting an earmuff with a lower protection level:

• Is the exposure time shorter than four hours? The earmuff protection level is based on noise exposure over an eight- hour working day. If the exposure is shorter, you should consider selecting a lower protection level.

• Do you need to hear important information from colleagues, warning signals etc.? Consider selecting a lower protection level or use an electronic level dependent earmuff.

• Are you suffering from hearing loss? If you have a hearing impairment, you may already have difficulty understanding speech in noisy environments. If you select the highest attenuation for hearing protectors, you may find it even more difficult to communicate or hear warning alarms.

• When to consider selecting an earmuff with a higher protection level:

• Does the noise consist mainly of low-frequency noise? If the noise is mainly low frequency, you should consider selecting a higher protection level because low-frequency noise is more difficult to block out.

• Do you need to wear safety glasses, face masks etc.? When combining hearing protection with safety glasses, face masks, etc., ensure performance is not adversely affected. If you are uncertain, seek additional advice and guidance or select an earmuff with a slightly higher protection level.

• Are there any other noise sources nearby? If there are other noise sources nearby, you should consider selecting a higher protection level.

Step 2: Choose the Correct Earmuff Style

• Are there any requirements to wear a hard hat at your workplace? If so, select a cap-mounted ear muff. Make sure that the hard hat you choose has universal slots that can be used in combination with the selected ear muff.

• Do you need to wear a bump cap or a hat for sun protection? Neckband ear muffs can be worn around the back of the neck, so users can wear them with bump caps, full-brim hard hats, or hats without attachment slots.

Step 3: Other Requirements

• Is the noise intermittent, or do you move in and out of noisy areas? Consider selecting an electronic level-dependent earmuff. The level-dependent earmuff protects against impulsive or intermittent hazardous noise while allowing situational awareness.

• Are you working with monotonous or stationary work tasks without the need to hear warning signals, etc.? Select an earmuff with a built-in AM/FM radio. Employees who wear radio earmuffs are more productive and motivated on the job.

• Are you working with monotonous work tasks and need to hear warning signals, etc.? Select an earmuff with both AM/FM radio and a level-dependent hearing function.

Common Noise Sources

Below are examples of different noise sources with their approximate sound pressure level in dB(A). These examples should only be used as guidance, as large variations may occur. The distance and surroundings also will affect the noise level.

Colin MacKenzie is President, Sales & Marketing at Hellberg Safety. Gary Klee is Product Manager, Above-the-Neck, at Protective Industrial Products Inc. (PIP), which is the exclusive supplier of Hellberg hearing protection in North America.

Photo Credit: Protective Industrial Products Inc.

URGENT: Demand Hearing Loss to be Acknowledged as a Disability

Recently, Hearing Health Foundation learned that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted a study on the prevalence of disability in the U.S. The study examined vision loss, cognition, mobility, self-care and independent living, but failed to mention hearing loss, the third most common public health concern after diabetes and heart disease.

Hearing Health Foundation is outraged by this gross oversight and finds the exclusion of people living with hearing loss from the report to be a troubling concern. Failing to acknowledge hearing loss diminishes the fact that having a hearing loss is a concern worthy of attention and treatment, as well its impact on a person's quality of life, ability to work, and full participation in society.

Hearing Health Foundation is not sitting back quietly, and neither should you! We will be sending representatives at the White House and CDC a letter asking them to take swift and meaningful steps to correct this gross error, acknowledge hearing loss as a disability, and amend the report accordingly. 

If you would like to take action with HHF, please sign our petition on Change.org. You can also download this letter, sign and return it to us by e-mail or mail (Take Action, c/o Hearing Health Foundation, 363 7th Ave, NY, NY, 10001). We will be sending all letters on September 1st. 

If you have any questions or would like to share your own letter with us, please email us at info@hearinghealthfoundation.org.

Thank you,

Claire Schultz 

Chief Executive Officer 

Hearing Health Foundation

Sign up for our monthly Hearing Health e-newsletter to receive the latest research updates from the lab, hear from those directly impacted by hearing loss and learn about ways for you to help make hearing loss a thing of the past. 

Rhythm, Noise and Nature

By Jessica Greenwood

When you think about pollution, what comes to mind? Most of us imagine major oil spills, smoke pushing out from factory chimneys, piles of cars idling in morning traffic, pesticides spraying over our crops or plastic bags floating through air and water, only to find their way to our oceans. All of these images are accurate and deserve our attention. However, more notice should be directed towards another pollutant that disturbs the very rhythm of life: NOISE.   

All of our systems, from the small to large, work under the influence of rhythm. Rhythm is the arrangement of sound as it moves through time. Airplanes, electronics, traffic, construction, sirens, trains, poor building acoustics and many more sources of noise, sometimes at excessive levels, contribute to drowning out life’s natural rhythm.

As a society, we have become accustomed to a world with a constant buzz and general loudness, but at what cost? There are the more obvious issues, such as hearing damage (i.e. hearing loss, tinnitus, Meniere’s, and hyperacusis), which can be instantaneous and permanent, but that is only the tip if the iceberg. Noise pollution and hearing loss can cause many psychological issues such as stress, fatigue, insomnia and depression, to name a few.

It’s important to remember that humans are not the only creatures who are disrupted by all this noise; wildlife has been profoundly affected by the constant humming of this planet. Animals rely heavily on the ability to hear for survival; to hunt, mate and flee danger requires sensitivity to sound, sound that is becoming harder for wildlife to distinguish. Even in the deepest ocean waters the impact noise pollution is having on aquatic life is the source of many news articles.

So what can you do about all of this noise and drama created around our sensitive ears? There are several solutions to this problem, but the first step is simply becoming aware of the sounds surrounding us and educating ourselves about safe listening levels.

April 29th, 2015 is International Noise Awareness Day (INAD). In celebration, HHF and Puro Sound Labs, a Hearing Health Partner that shares HHF’s vision for a world where people can enjoy life without hearing loss and tinnitus, are joining forces. We are asking YOU to document any noisy part of your day by taking a short video or audio recording. It can be of anything, such as riding a subway car, sirens passing by, excessively loud restaurants or concerts, or the waves crashing onto to the beach, among other noises encountered on a regular, everyday basis. The only supplies you need are your ears and cell phone or camera to capture sounds and noises you experience. Once captured, please share it with us on Facebook and Twitter by using the hashtag #HearTheNoise.

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/HearingHealthFoundation

https://www.facebook.com/purosound?fref=ts

Twitter:

@HearingHealthFn

@PuroSoundLabs

As an organization dedicated to cure hearing loss and tinnitus, Hearing Health Foundation (HHF) understands the importance of prevention and awareness, which is why we recently added “promoting hearing health” to our mission. While HHF has an incredible and committed following, HHF cannot spread the word alone, and enlists the help of its corporate partners to help.

One such company is Puro Sound Labs, a small start-up that created headphones with volume limits at 85dB, the maximum sound level for safe listening. Volumes exceeding 85dB can cause irreversible damage, such as Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). NIHL is a growing epidemic, with the numbers of people affected by hearing loss expanding, rapidly, especially among our youth. Personal listening devices and earbuds are likely the greatest contributor to this epidemic producing volumes well over a safe level, often exceeding 110dB, at which damaged can be sustained in a matter of minutes.

While Puro Sound Labs is company that has dedicated itself to providing great sound without the need of excessive volume, they wanted to take their commitment to hearing health and prevention to the next level: the company is contributing a portion of each pair of BT2200 headphones sold, to HHF’s mission of finding a cure for hearing loss and tinnitus.  

Together Puro Sound Labs and HHF are Partners with a Purpose.

Your Brain Is a Muscle: Use It or Lose It

By Sloan Blanton

Brain Awareness Week (March 16-22, 2015) celebrates one of the most important organs in the human body and current progress and breakthroughs in brain research. While the brain literally affects every organ and bodily function, did you know hearing loss, especially when it goes untreated, can affect brain function and size? It can also affect quality of life. Depression rates are higher for those with hearing loss, as is the likelihood of emotional issues, such as anger and withdrawal, which can lead to poor mental health.

I was born with a sensorineural hearing loss in both ears so it is all that I have ever known. While I sometimes feel socially isolated because I am not always able to follow the conversations around me, and I also know my speech development has been directly affected by my hearing loss, my cogitative ability has been in no way impaired. However, several studies have found a correlation between aging, cognitive function, and hearing loss. For a long time, many researchers believed the two to be unrelated, but recent findings have proven otherwise.

From 2001 to 2007, the Health, Aging, and Body Composition study tested the hearing and cognitive abilities of nearly 2,000 adults between ages 75-84. In the study, those with hearing impairment lost cognitive abilities up to 40% more quickly than typical-hearing participants. Additionally, participants with hearing loss developed cognitive issues on average three years sooner than those with typical hearing.

Numerous theories dive into the relation between the brain and hearing loss, such as that the brain must work harder to process sounds when there is an inability to hear, which then takes the brain’s attention away from other cognitive functions. "We take for granted that processing sound is simple, but for the brain it's very energy intensive," Dr. Frank Lin, the assistant professor conducting the study, reported. "The most powerful computers in the world are no match for the sound-processing capabilities of the brain of a 3-year-old child."

The decline of cognitive ability impairs other brain functions, such as thinking and memory retention. Social isolation resulting from hearing loss can put the elderly at greater risk for dementia and other cognitive impairments. "It's early days yet, but we have seen that if you take an adult with typical hearing and put her in an MRI scanner while listening to garbled speech, the scans reveal that the brain has to spend extra energy to decode it," says researcher Jonathan Peelle.

In 2014, Neurolmage published Lin’s study on hearing loss possibly causing the brain to atrophy, like an unused muscle. Those who have had hearing loss for at least seven years or longer tended to have brains with small temporal lobes, making short- and long-term memory and processing meaning from sensory input difficult.

According to Healthy Hearing, a deeper understanding of hearing loss, both its causes and its effects, is crucial. The hope is that individuals with age-related hearing loss could benefit from cognitive and perceptual training exercises, and thus can have an improved quality of life. That includes better physical health, better mental health, improved relationships, and the ability to continue to engage in society. To make sure you're receiving the best care and are living the highest quality life possible, make an appointment with your hearing healthcare professional for your annual checkup; more than just your hearing will benefit.

Watch out for the “Break the Stigma” issue of Hearing Health Magazine this spring, which will include research on how addressing, and then treating, hearing loss leads to happier, healthier outcomes. If you're not already a subscriber to the FREE magazine, subscribe here.

Make Listening Safe

By Sloan Blanton

Our ears are one of our most precious commodities. With our ears we are able to communicate with our peers, enjoy the beauty of music, tune into the natural world around us and become aware of safety hazards, such as sirens. Some people are born without the ability to hear, and for thousands of years those individuals lived without any legitimate hearing solutions. In the past 150 years, numerous technological advancements have emerged, providing hearing assistance through the use of hearing aids, assistive listening devices, cochlear implants, and more.

However, today's increasingly industrialized society poses a new risk. A growing number of people are prone to noise-induced hearing loss. Our smartphones and personal audio devices increase our vulnerability, especially when we are tuned in for extended periods of time. Concerts, nightclubs, and sporting events make us prone to hearing loss as well.

For all of these reasons and more, the First International Conference on Prevention and Rehabilitation of Hearing Impairment established the annual International Ear Care Day in 2007. The event is held on March 3 each year to build advocacy and promote hearing care in countries all around the world. This year's theme is: "Make Listening Safe."

The World Health Organization (WHO) works closely with this event, releasing an annual assessment of each country's status in providing quality ear care services. This year, the WHO found startling numbers to be true about the state of hearing loss in the world; over 1.1 billion young adults ages 12 to 35 are at risk for "recreational hearing loss." In this age group, 43 million people currently deal with the unfortunate effects of hearing loss, whether it is noise-induced or through birth defects or illnesses. Recreational hearing loss leads to many harmful effects. Physical and mental health can be affected, as well as employment and education opportunities. Hearing loss may also lead to attention-seeking behaviors and learning disabilities.

“As they go about their daily lives doing what they enjoy, more and more young people are placing themselves at risk of hearing loss,” says Dr. Etienne Krug, the director of the WHO’s Department for Management of Noncommunicable Diseases, Disability, Violence, and Injury Prevention. “They should be aware that once you lose your hearing, it won’t come back. Taking simple preventive actions will allow people to continue to enjoy themselves without putting their hearing at risk.”

Both intensity and duration affect safe listening levels. The safe level at 85 decibels (dB) is eight hours of continual exposure. The number drops drastically at 100 dB to just 15 minutes. Exposure to these loud sounds usually leads to temporary hearing loss and a ringing sensation in the ear (tinnitus). When the exposure is particularly loud, regular, or prolonged, it can lead to permanent hearing loss and a lack of speech comprehension, and is damaging the ear's sensory cells. High-frequency sounds are typically the first to be impacted.

To reduce the risk of noise-induced hearing loss, set the volume on your personal audio device to no greater than 60 percent of the maximum volume. Wear earplugs in bars, at sporting events, and in other loud places. Even using headphones allows sound to be customized for individual listeners. Take short breaks while in loud environments to reduce the harmful effects of noise exposure, such as avoiding loudspeakers.

By having one’s ears checked regularly, individuals are able to monitor the onset of hearing loss before it becomes a serious concern. There are also many smartphone apps that provide useful information regarding volume levels to inform users of whether they are exposing their precious ears to risky sound levels.

Hearing Health Foundation is a proud supporter and partner of International Ear Care Day. It is worth marking on your calendar in an effort to curb the trend of noise-induced hearing loss while encouraging mankind to develop lasting solutions to lifelong problems.

Source: World Health Organization

Good Acoustics for Green Buildings

By Kathi Mestayer

LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a green building certification program run by the U.S. Green Building Council. Its objective is for buildings to save money and resources and have a positive impact on the health of occupants, and promote renewable, clean energy.  

This includes good acoustics. “Our 2009 ratings systems for schools and healthcare institutions cover sound because of the overwhelming evidence that it critically affects learning and healing environments,” says Larissa Oaks, the LEED Indoor Environmental Quality Specialist with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

Surveys by the Center for the Built Environment and other groups have shown that occupants of office buildings and other work environments rated “acoustic comfort” low, even when the air quality and temperature were deemed acceptable. Acoustic comfort is defined as conducive to speech intelligibility, speech privacy, and concentration where appropriate, with few distractions and annoyances.

Optimizing green design and good acoustics can be a balancing act. "The imperatives of green design—such as lower-energy consumption mechanical equipment and designs, harder-surfaced materials, reduction in use of full-height partitions, and more glass—resulted in spaces that achieved high marks for efficiency, and high LEED certification levels, while simultaneously not meeting the needs of the occupants acoustically," says Ethan Salter, a principal at Charles M. Salter Associates in San Francisco and a lead technical adviser for the LEED acoustics credits.

These credits specify measures to create (and ways to measure) sound isolation and speech privacy, and reduce background noise and external noise. For example, for school acoustics, limits apply for noise from HVAC (heating and cooling) systems and noise from adjacent spaces.  

Limits are also set to minimize the effect of reverberation from hard surfaces, which makes speech harder to understand. Reverberant environments can degrade speech intelligibility and increase the “noisiness” of a space, with greater potential for distraction. To mitigate reverberation, designers can incorporate absorptive materials where possible; there are a number of new, sustainable material options that fit within the “green” framework.

As of this writing, LEED credits are in place for acoustical performance for healthcare facilities, classrooms, offices, and other workplaces. There is also a pilot credit for exterior noise control.

Take a closer look at an example of LEED acoustical credits here.

I’ve written about the dangers of workplace noise; the perils of an open office plan, especially for anyone with a hearing loss; and one company’s efforts to protect their employees’ hearing.

Marion Downs Appreciation

By Amy Gross

I had no idea how influential Marion Downs had been—and at the time, still was—regarding newborn infant screening, but it didn't take much research to discover that this woman was a big, big deal. I don't know why, but her passing on November 13, 2014, caught me by surprise. It didn't matter that she had reached her 100th birthday; I, like many of her fans, found it difficult to accept that the force known as Marion Downs had moved on, peacefully, in her sleep.

Marion (she wouldn't let me call her "Ms. Downs") was 92 when we spoke. She was still skiing and swimming and playing tennis competitively, and one of the photos in “Shut Up and Live!” showed her gleefully skydiving with a handsome young instructor (she made sure to point out the "handsome" part several times). I had read every word of her book, in which she provided candid advice for anyone dealing with the aging process: the importance of weight training, why hearing aids are critical in the health of a marriage, and how to maintain a healthy sex life into one's senior years. I loved that she was able to make me blush more than a few more times; the woman minced no words.

What had put Marion Downs on the map, audiologically speaking, were her pioneering efforts, beginning in the early 1960s, in the essentially unheard-of area of infant hearing testing. An audiologist herself, Marion and a research partner started hearing testing for newborns before those infants had even left the hospital, fitting even the tiniest babies with hearing aids. Today, thanks to Early Hearing and Detection Intervention programs, 97 percent of newborns have their hearing screened. Knowing what we know today about the importance of hearing with respect to language and even cognitive development in extremely young children, there's no telling how many infants with hearing loss were identified as such in a timely manner, and their developmental skills saved, because of Marion Downs's work.  

The Marion Downs Center in Denver, Colorado, a nonprofit organization that espouses, as Marion did herself, a cradle to grave approach in dealing with hearing loss, will continue her efforts in advocating for those with hearing loss. Marion was a visionary in the world of hearing health. Her legacy lives on, quite visibly, in the children whose lives she touched.