Hearing wear can be fought

Despite age: how to protect your hearing

Audiomania company blog, Geektimes

As we age, we lose our hearing. This is a sad but unavoidable fact. This is due to the physiological features of our hearing aid.

The inner ear of a person does not recover. Therefore, over the years, a person loses the ability to hear sounds at a certain height.

The so-called hair cells in our ear are damaged over the years due to constant noise exposure from the outside – loud sounds destroy them, and they do not have the ability to regenerate (like many other organs in the human body).

What is the reason for this process? Can it be stopped? How do people whose work is directly related to sound deal with the inevitable hearing loss? We are sorting it out.

How our capabilities change with age

The brain perceives sound thanks to the cortical organ, which is located in the spirally curled bone canal of the inner ear. It consists of hair cells that perceive sound vibrations and turn them into nerve impulses — the brain processes them.

External hair cells, which perceive and "transmit" sounds to the brain at higher frequencies, are the first to encounter the effects of sound waves, and therefore are destroyed faster.

In addition to age (the natural process of degradation), hearing can be affected by infections, autoimmune diseases and reactions to certain medications. Such a disorder (regardless of whether it is acquired naturally or not) is called sensorineural hearing loss. 

Challenge yourself, best of all – in headphones
and in 1080p mode (set it in YouTube settings).

A simple experiment allows you to calculate the "age of hearing". He demonstrates ruthless mathematics. The sound at an altitude of 8000 Hz can be heard by all living people without hearing problems. Above - 12000 Hz – cuts off people over 50. Even higher – 15000 Hz, people over 40 may not hear anymore. Further – more severe.

In fact, calling this hearing loss age-related degradation is also not entirely fair. This process is rather a natural wear and tear caused by environmental conditions. This is confirmed by scientific research – for example, members of the African tribe Maaban, who live far from civilization (and, as a consequence, the noise pollution produced by it), can even hear a whisper at a distance of several hundred meters even in old age.

In other words, we lose our hearing not only because we are getting old, but because we live in a very noisy world. Any (even very familiar to us) loud sounds, whether it's a washing machine, blender, bulldozer on the street or speakers in a bar, cause irreparable damage to our hearing. This is a time-consuming and irreversible process.

How to take care of hearing

Hearing wear can be dealt with, as well as with the wear of any mechanism. It is necessary to use it more carefully, observe safety rules and periodically engage in prevention.

Prolonged exposure to sound louder than 85 dB is considered dangerous. For comparison:

• 60 dB – the volume of a normal conversation
• 90 dB – the sound of motorcycle movement
• 100 Db – music in a nightclub
• 112 Db – player at maximum
• 120 dB – siren

Three main introductory:

1. Too long and too loud. The main problem is the duration of exposure. Loud music for 1-3 hours is the main cause of rapid hearing degradation.

2. Frequency. We are most sensitive to the sounds of medium frequencies – 3-4 kilohertz.

3. Perception. If we listen to loud music for too long, our perception changes – it seems to us that it has become quieter, and we can still raise the volume.

In other words, we are constantly exposed to noises that destroy our hearing. What to do? There are a number of simple and universal ways to help preserve hearing:

• Avoid excessively loud sounds. This is banal advice, but the simplest. Even if the sound does not annoy you, if it is pleasant or melodious, its volume destroys the hair cells of the inner ear.

• Earplugs. If you know that in the near future you will spend several hours in a noisy place, use earplugs.

• Take breaks. The ears should "rest". If you find yourself in a noisy club or buzzing open space, periodically go outside or into a quiet corridor. In 5-10 minutes of silence, your hearing will recover a little and "rest". If you spent two hours in a space with a background noise of about 100 dB (for example, a music club), your hearing takes 16 hours to recover.

• Rule 60:60. Listen to music with headphones at 60% volume for no more than 60 minutes in a row.

• Health. Another universal advice is to exercise, avoid stress, do not use ear sticks (consider alternatives), monitor blood pressure and take medications only on the recommendation of a doctor, quit smoking. All this can affect hearing.

• Noise reduction against plugs. Another well–known fact is that earplugs are very comfortable, but at the same time they are more harmful to our hearing than, for example, over-ear headphones. If you need to "interrupt" the surrounding sounds, try headphones with noise reduction.

Those who by profession must have a fine ear

There are many professions related to working with sound. This field of activity is one of those where the necessary and only working tool, unfortunately, wears out the most during work. For example, DJs and musicians spend most of their careers under the influence of very loud sounds. 60% of musicians elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame suffer from some form of hearing loss.

British rapper Ben Drew (better known as Plan B), at the age of 30, began to suffer from tinnitus, which he initially confused with the rumble of trains. Now he wears special earplugs, but his condition will worsen with age. "I have no doubt that the disease is caused by years spent on stage under loud decibels. If you're doing music or performing, don't forget about earplugs," Drew explained.

This is a common symptom among musicians – for example, Chris Martin, Eric Clapton and many other stars suffer from it. Sting also suffers from hearing problems and supports initiatives that remind him that taking care of hearing is important, and not only for musicians.

But Paul Stanley, the frontman of the band KISS, has been deaf in one ear since childhood and suffers from microtia. This, however, did not prevent him from becoming a musician who is very sensitive about preserving the hearing that he has. The danger, Stanley believes, is that people do not notice the loss of hearing acuity and come to their senses when the deterioration process can no longer be stopped.

Our hearing is aging – it is inevitable and caused by the conditions in which we live. It is in our power to take care of our ears and avoid unnecessary sound (and any other) stresses. And earplugs. They are worth remembering and using.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru  22.09.2017