After years of loud rock music, many people in their mid-forties are noticing hearing loss, sometime severe enough to require a hearing aid.
In an article published by WebMD on April 21, the medical service quoted Eric Snider, a music critic as saying that people often joke when they see him wearing foam earplugs at rock concerts. How good can the concert be if the critic is muffling the sounds?
But Snider, 45, is simply taking precautions against the often-relentless noise level. "Someday," he says, "I hope to be able to hear what my grandchildren are saying." Snider has worn earplugs for a long time, but lately he has noticed more people, especially his colleagues, doing the same.
WHEN HEARING GOES
WebMD said many others exposed to high-decibel surroundings, however, are not as cautious as Snider -- and may regret it. Years of exposure to loud concerts, cranked-up stereos, personal CD players, leaf blowers, and other environmental noise are a big part of the reason doctors are now seeing more middle-aged people with hearing loss. It used to be that people aged 65 and older were the most likely to need hearing aids, but now hearing loss is a boomer phenomenon -- as President Bill Clinton recently demonstrated when he was fitted with hearing aids.
The report added that statistics support doctors' observations that people are suffering from hearing loss at younger ages. Between 1971 and 1990, the number of people between the ages of 46 and 64 with hearing loss increased 26%, and the number between the ages of 18 and 44 increased 17%, according to the National Health Interview Survey, WebMD added.
THE ROOT OF THE LOSS
Exposure to loud noises can damage hearing by harming sensitive hair cells in the ear, says James F. Battey, director of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
These hair cells move as sound waves travel through the ear structures, and the movement is converted to nerve impulses that are interpreted by the brain as sound.
A single loud noise, such as a gunshot blast, can do permanent damage to these structures. But Battey says years of high-decibel exposure are more often to blame for hearing loss in middle age.
Even if there is already hearing loss, WebMD said, protecting the ears can minimize further injury. Earplugs, sold in most drugstores, should be worn when people are around loud power tools or attending loud concerts. Larger earphone-like devices can help for especially loud tools, like leaf blowers, according to Battey.
A NEW DEVICE EXPECTED TO HELP
In May, a new disposable hearing aid is expected to go on the market. It will cost $39 and will last for about 40 days, says Frederick Fritz, president and CEO of Songbird Medical, the manufacturer. Because the battery is built-in and discarded with the device, the hearing aid doesn't have a battery door, standard on other hearing aids. That allows room for a bigger microphone, which improves sound quality, according to Fritz.
Like the new disposable model, many other hearing aids now fit completely in the ear canal, nearly invisible to other people. And that, designers and ear specialists hope, may convince hard-of-hearing boomers to do something about their problem -- without broadcasting their accumulation of birthdays – Albawaba.com
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
