Why Wear Hearing Protection?

One in 10 Americans suffers from a hearing loss that affects his ability to understand normal speech. While age-related hearing loss is the most common cause, excessive noise exposure is also a factor. There's nothing we can do to avoid the fact that we're surrounded by noise every day, but there are things we can do to minimize its damage to our hearing, says the American Academy Of Otolaryngology. Simple ear protection is one easy preventative measure.

Surrounded by Noise

• Quite often, damage occurs to our hearing during the course of our everyday lives, at decibel levels we might not normally consider damaging. Anything below 85 decibels is generally considered to be safe. Normal conversation is somewhere around 60 decibels and an idling bulldozer 85 decibels. When you consider that using earphones at a volume greater than 5 is approximately 100 decibels and power tools register around 100 decibels, you can begin to understand how insidiously noise becomes part of our daily lives. Hearing protection should be worn when exposed to noise at home and work because we don't always realize the level of noise we're being exposed to.

Minimizes without Blocking

• We regularly wear sunglasses to guard our eyes from the damaging rays of the sun. Just as we can still see while wearing sunglasses, we can still hear while wearing hearing protectors. Hearing protectors work by reducing the noise level without blocking out all sound. The American Academy of Otolaryngology reports that a well-fitted pair of hearing protectors should allow the wearer to understand regular conversation while protecting ears from high decibel levels.

A Variety Of Styles

• Because there are several styles of hearing protection available, there is no reason to believe they're too uncomfortable to wear. If one type doesn't feel right, simply try another. One of them should be suitable.

  Foam ear plugs are soft. They need to be compressed before they're placed in the ear so that they will expand once they're inside the ear canal. Earmuffs have flexible pads that should fit comfortably around the outer part of the ear. Molded ear plugs are harder than foam plugs and are simply inserted into the ear canal. You can have molded ear plugs custom-made to fit.

Cumulative Damage

• Hearing damage occurs over time. At first sounds may become muffled or you might have trouble following normal conversation. It's not unusual for hearing loss to develop over the course of several years, making it difficult to discern that it is happening at all. This may be the greatest reason to wear hearing protection, even when you don't think you need it.

Tinnitus

• Noise exposure can also lead to a condition called tinnitus. Tinnitus causes ringing in the ear and may become permanent. Other symptoms of tinnitus include hearing noises that no one around you hears, or a clicking or rushing sound that keeps time with your heartbeat. Hearing protection can protect you from tinnitus.