Noise and sound: Hearing loss and tinnitus

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Hearing loss

The primary causes of permanent hearing loss are age and exposure to loud sounds.

Age-related hearing loss:

Anyone can experience age-related hearing loss as they get older. However, it can happen much earlier for people who don't take proper care of their hearing while:

When hearing loss is caused by exposure to loud sounds, it is called noise-induced or sound-induced hearing loss.

Sound-induced hearing loss:

Both age-related and sound-induced hearing loss are types of sensorineural hearing loss. People with these types of sensorineural hearing loss will have similar difficulties in their daily lives depending on the severity of the hearing loss.

Mild hearing loss can make communication difficult. People with mild hearing loss may miss certain parts of conversations, especially over the phone. Mild hearing loss can make it difficult to:

These difficulties can:

Most people who have mild hearing loss aren't even aware they have it. In a study that looked at hearing loss among people in Canada between the ages of 40 and 79, 8% of men and 5% of women self-reported hearing impairment. But when researchers measured the hearing of participants in the study, they found that 63% of men and 46% of women had measurable hearing loss.

Mild hearing loss can get worse over time and become moderate, especially with repeated exposure to loud sounds. Someone with moderate hearing loss will often need to ask people to repeat themselves or to speak louder when communicating in person and on the phone. If someone's hearing loss becomes severe enough, they won't be able to follow conversations unless they have hearing aids.

Difficulty communicating can impact relationships leading to smaller social networks and feelings of loneliness. In children and adolescents, even minimal hearing loss can have effects on:

In adults, hearing loss and impairment is associated with:

Tinnitus

Exposure to loud sounds can cause tinnitus, a symptom of damage to the hair cells in the inner ear. Tinnitus is often referred to as a phantom ringing in 1 or both ears, however some people experience it as hissing, ringing, roaring, clicking, buzzing or other sounds.

Tinnitus can be temporary or permanent. For some people, experiencing temporary tinnitus doesn't bother or annoy them. For others, it's been associated with:

Tinnitus can occur because of exposure to loud sounds, such as attending a concert without hearing protection. Tinnitus can happen without hearing loss but it might also be a sign of hearing loss that's imminent or already present. Like hearing loss, there's no known cure, only treatments to help manage the symptoms.

Health reports: Tinnitus in Canada

How loud sound affects your ears over time

text description is in the next 2 paragraphs

When sound reaches your ears, it travels along your ear canal to your eardrum causing it to vibrate. The vibrations are transmitted by 3 small inner ear bones into your inner ear (cochlea). In the cochlea, there is fluid and hair cells, also known as sensory cells. These hair cells convert sound into electrical signals that travel along the auditory nerve to the brain. Your brain interprets the signals as things like speech, music or noise. You're born with a set number of hair cells. Once they die, your body doesn't replace them.

Loud sounds damage the hair cells in your cochlea. Hair cells are rigid structures and regular exposure to loud sound causes them to lose their rigidity over time. Like grass that's stepped on, hair cells get bent by sounds. This is especially true for loud sounds.

Grass eventually dies when it's repeatedly walked over or trampled. Similarly, hair cells can be 'trampled' by loud sounds until they die and can no longer convert sound into electrical signals for the brain. This happens faster:

These physical changes to the ear present as tinnitus, hearing loss or both. Sometimes, this can also present as hyperacusis, a disorder where a person becomes even more sensitive to sound because of damage to the hair cells.

Have you ever experienced temporary hearing loss or tinnitus after a loud sound exposure, like being at a concert or sporting event? If so, it means there was permanent damage done to some of your thousands of hair cells. They may have died off or become very broken. That damage will add up to permanent problems over time.

The likelihood that you'll develop hearing loss, tinnitus or both depends on:

For example, you are more likely to develop hearing loss, tinnitus or both if you:

The effect that loud sounds have on your hearing is cumulative. Repeated exposure to loud sounds and noise in earlier years could speed up age-related hearing loss in later life, more than what would be expected due to the natural process of aging.

How to tell if a sound is too loud

Sounds with levels below 70 dBA pose no known risk of hearing loss, no matter how long the exposure lasts. A sound level of 70 dBA is about what you would experience while driving alone in a car at highway speeds with the windows closed and the radio off.

For sounds at levels higher than 70 dBA, the amount of time you're exposed becomes an important factor. For example, listening to music:

85 dBA is about what you would experience standing on the corner of a busy city street with lots of traffic going by.

table below
Listening time to hearing loss - Text description
Situation example Decibel level How long until you risk hearing loss
Outdoors in a quiet suburb 50 dB No known risk
Having a normal conversation with someone in a quiet room 60 dB No known risk
In a car on the highway with the windows closed 70 dB No known risk
Standing at the edge of a busy road 80 dB 8 hours
Using a gas lawn mower 90 dB 2.5 hours
Using headphones or ear buds at a loud volume 100 dB 15 minutes
Attending a concert 110 dB 1.5 minutes
Having a whistle blown close to your ear 120 dB 9 seconds

Warning signs of hearing loss

Know the warning signs of early hearing loss and talk to a healthcare professional if:

Check your hearing: Download the HearWHO App

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