Julie Raney is a certified and licensed audiologist. She has a B.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders and a Master’s Degree in Audiology from Idaho State University. She has worked as a clinical audiologist in Colorado since 2005. She specializes in hearing amplification for adults and delivers her services in both English and Sign Language.

Raising Awareness

Hearing loss commonly affects an older generation the most, with age-related hearing loss being the most common type. However, hearing loss can begin at any age and unfortunately, the numbers only continue to rise. It is estimated that currently 34 millions of those affected by hearing loss are below 18 years old. As for people 20 years old to 69, 18 percent report speech frequency hearing loss due to five years or more of loud noise exposure in the workplace. The issue is that you could be damaging your hearing every day and not even realize it.

Understanding the Risk

Hearing loss often starts slowly with certain pitches, tones or parts of the word hard to comprehend. If you do work or live in a noisy environment such as a factory, construction site or busy street, what may seem to be harmless sounds can compound over time. Sound is measured in decibels and any decibel level 85 dB or higher can slowly deplete your hearing ability over time. It’s not just the level of the sound but the length of exposure.

A low level of dangerous noise may take 5-10 years before it starts to materialize as significant hearing loss. However, as the decibel levels rise the time it takes for damage to incur becomes shorter. Whenever you are on the job or engaged in noisy recreational activities it is a good and safe idea to know the decibel level of your environment and wear appropriate hearing protection. Most earplugs or headphones can reduce the decibel level from anywhere from 15 -30 decibels depending on the model. Part of protecting your hearing is understanding the risk and preparing with the proper ear protection ahead of time.

The Risk to Your Ears

Of course, you cannot always prevent hearing loss and once the damage is done it is often irreversible. The ears rely on tiny hair-like cells in the inner ear to pick up soundwaves and transform them into electronic pulses for the brain to interpret. In addition to extreme decibel levels hearing can also be damaged by head trauma, certain medications which are ototoxic, infections and more when the tiny hair-like cells are damaged or destroyed. However, most people don’t realize they have a hearing loss until they can’t hear in the quietest and controlled listening environments. At this point, some of the negative effects of hearing loss have already advanced significantly, ultimately affecting the quality of life in often irreversible ways.

Impact of Untreated Hearing Loss

Hearing loss is a communication issue just as much as an ear issue. When you can’t communicate with the people closest to you, it causes rifts in these relationships as years progress with poor hearing. At work, co-workers rely on you less and it is common for those with untreated hearing loss to earn less than employees with treated or original hearing. This can lead to chronic depression, anxiety and insomnia over the years ultimately leading people to self-isolate. In addition to the emotional impact of hearing loss, it can also affect cognitive ability as the brain struggles to hear with less information, increasing the likeliness of developing dementia, sooner or at all. The alarming thing is that research is finding that even a slight degree of hearing loss can lower scores on cognitive ability tests. This is why catching and treating a hearing loss early is essential.

Test for Hearing Now!

The important thing is to make sure you get tested annually for hearing loss and seek treatment as soon as a hearing loss is detected. Don’t let the negative side effects of hearing loss start to get the better of you! Use March 3^rd as an excuse to finally schedule a hearing exam and take a stand against hearing loss now!