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The World Health Organization recently issued a warning about the hearing health of younger generations. Essentially, many factors are adding up to what might be a plague of hearing loss as today’s younger people, both Millennials and GenZ, age.
Now that it’s October and Protect Your Hearing Month, it’s a great time to take stock of the noise environments younger people frequently find themselves in to help you evaluate the dangerous sound levels you might be exposing your ears to. As you become more aware of both the risk of hearing loss in noisy environments, plus what constitutes as dangerous, you can begin to take proactive measures to protect your hearing.
How hearing works
The most common reason for folks to lose their hearing later in life is simply by aging. But a strong runner-up is dangerously loud noise. We call this condition noise-induced hearing loss and it occurs when the fine hair cells of the inner ear are harmed by loud noise. These cells are non-regenerative, which means they do not repair themselves after damage. They’re also integral to the hearing process by collecting sound information and transmitting it to the brain via the auditory nerve. When these cells can’t perform, less sound information reaches the brain.
Dangerous decibels
Experts agree that noises over 85 decibels — the unit for measuring sound — can damage inner ear cells when exposed for long periods. As volumes increase, the times you can be safely exposed to them decreases. When the decibels reach 100+, even a few minutes of exposure time can do a lot of damage!
Time and frequency can make everyday noises dangerous
We typically think of noise-induced hearing loss and the harm that noisy environments can have on our ears over long periods as associated with loud workplaces. That’s certainly true as there are professions like farming, factory work, or construction work that deal with heavy machinery and loud noise. Much of that danger also has to do with the interaction of dangerous noise exposure, daily and throughout a person’s working life.
But we also have personal daily habits, stretching over a lifetime, that put our hearing at risk. For instance, do you blow dry your hair every day? If that’s something you’ve been doing for decades and plan to continue, remember that it’s the sort of long-term behavior that can have unintended consequences. A hairdryer can give off noise between 80 and 100 or more decibels. When you subject your ears to that level of noise for 10 or 20 minutes a day over multiple decades, the risk for noise-induced hearing loss shoots up. Seek out models that advertise themselves as quiet to proactively protect your hearing.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention earbuds or headphones. The World Health Organization deliberately calls out this phenomenon of younger people being so connected to their devices via earbuds and headphones as part of the increased risk for hearing loss in Millenials and GenZ-ers. Earbuds can have maximum volumes of 110 decibels, so never turn them all the way up. Try to stay at middle volumes and do not exceed more than two-thirds of the maximum level.
Hobbies that carry dangerous levels of noise
Recreational Shooting
If you’re a recreational shooter, this one’s for you. Never, and we repeat never, practice shooting without hearing protection. The sound of sport and target practice using shotguns, rifles, and handguns is between 140-175 decibels and way beyond the warning levels for dangerous noise.
Live music
People who love live music are at risk for noise-induced hearing loss, particularly if they’re attending amplified events. Rock concerts regularly reach 120 decibels and classical fans aren’t exempt, either! A symphonic concert can also emit ‘noise’ up to 90-100 decibels (especially those brass-heavy Mahler symphonies). If you are a person who frequently attends concerts, invest in hearing protection before the next performance.
Sporting Events
A crowd at Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs, reached noise levels of 142 decibels. While that’s the record for the loudest sporting event, these kinds of noise levels aren’t exactly unheard of. Sports stadiums can easily reach noise levels of 100+ decibels. While it might be a sign of fan support, it can also do long-lasting damage to your hearing, especially if you’re a season ticket holder. Pack earmuffs, noise-canceling headphones or custom earplugs to give your overworked ears a break.
Schedule a hearing consultation today
One way to protect your hearing over many decades is to begin to monitor your hearing health. Schedule a hearing consultation today and prioritize getting an annual checkup every year. We can discuss any safeguards you might want to put into place, like hearing protection or begin to consider interventions if hearing loss is already present. There’s no day like today to plan for a lifetime of healthier hearing!