How Do I Know When It's Time to Protect My Ears?

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It's time to protect your ears if :

You must raise your voice to be heard.
You can't hear someone 3 feet away from you.
Speech around you sounds muffled or dull after you leave the noisy area.
You have pain or ringing in your ears (this is called “tinnitus”) after exposure to noise.

What Causes Hearing Loss?

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Causes of Hearing Loss

Several factors can cause hearing loss like ear infections(otitis media), noise, medication(ototoxic medications), advanced age, genetics.

The WebMD website states that "Advanced age is the most common cause of hearing loss. One out of three people aged 65-74 has some level of hearing loss. After age 75, that ratio goes up to one out of every two people.

Advanced age is the most common cause of hearing loss. One out of three people aged 65-74 has some level of hearing loss. After age 75, that ratio goes up to one out of every two people. 

  

Researchers don't fully understand why hearing decreases with age. It could be that lifetime exposure to noise and other damaging factors slowly wear down the ears' delicate mechanics. Genes also play a role.

  Noise wears down hearing if it's loud or continuous. In some workplaces, ears are exposed to dangerous noise levels every day. To understand the impact of noise, consider this: 44% of carpenters and 48% of plumbers report some hearing loss. Other noisy lines of work include the military, mining, manufacturing, agriculture, and transportation.

Even musicians, who literally create music for our ears, are at risk for noise-induced hearing loss. Some now wear special earplugs to protect their ears when they perform. The earplugs allow them to hear music without harming their ears' inner workings.

Loud noise can be very damaging to hearing. Both the level of noise and the length of time you listen to the noise can put you at risk for noise-induced hearing loss. Noise levels are measured in decibels, or dB for short. The higher the decibel level, the louder the noise. Sounds that are louder than 85 dB can cause permanent hearing loss. The hearing system can be injured not only by a loud blast or explosion but also by prolonged exposure to high noise levels.

  Certain medications can impair hearing and/or balance. More than 200 medications and chemicals have a track record of triggering hearing and/or balance side effects in addition to their disease-fighting capabilities. These include some antibiotics and chemotherapy drugs, aspirin, loop diuretics, a drug used to treat malaria, and several drugs for erectile dysfunction.

How Loud is Too Loud...to cause hearing loss?

Dangerousdecibels has a very graphic answer to this question.

http://www.dangerousdecibels.org/education/information-center/decibel-exposure-time-guidelines/

The noise chart below lists average decibel levels for everyday sounds around you.

Painful

150 dB = fireworks at 3 feet

140 dB = firearms, jet engine

130 dB = jackhammer

120 dB = jet plane takeoff, siren

Extremely Loud

110 dB = maximum output of some MP3 players, model airplane, chain saw

106 dB = gas lawn mower, snowblower

100 dB = hand drill, pneumatic drill

90 dB = subway, passing motorcycle

Very Loud

80–90 dB = blow-dryer, kitchen blender, food processor

70 dB = busy traffic, vacuum cleaner, alarm clock

Moderate

60 dB = typical conversation, dishwasher, clothes dryer

50 dB = moderate rainfall

40 dB = quiet room

Faint

30 dB = whisper, quiet library

(Retrieved from www.noisyplanet.nidcd.nih.gov/parents/athome.htm andwww.lhh.org/noise/facts/environment.html on September 24, 2009)