How Noise Can Affect Your Health

Simply put, noise can damage your hearing!  Exposure to excessive noise raises your hearing threshold -- the degree of loudness at which you first begin to hear.

There are two types of hearing loss:

• A temporary hearing loss can be caused by exposure to loud noise for a few hours.  Fortunately, hearing is usually restored after a period of time away from noise.
• A permanent hearing loss occurs after the ear has been continually exposed to excess noise.  Hair cells gradually harden and die, making it increasingly difficult to recover from a temporary hearing loss.

There are warning signs that may be indicative of permanent hearing loss, including:

• inability to hear high-pitched or soft sounds
• trouble understanding conversation, or speech heard over the telephone
• ringing or roaring in the ears (called tinnitus)

  There is NO CURE for hearing loss caused by noise.  Hearing aids do not restore noise-damaged hearing, although they may help most people.

Inaddition to hearing loss, excessive noise exposure may contribute to mental and physical stress, certain illnesses, and accidents.

Now, we will learn more about noise levels and their impact on our ability to hear.