Close to 6 million U.S. teenagers have some form of hearing loss, which signifies an increase of about a third over the past twenty years. While experts claim that this hearing loss is in part caused by regular exposure to high volumes of music from portable players and phones, participation in marching band is yet another contributing cause. As nearly every city high school and college has a marching band, band membership is a quite common activity among teens.

Harmful sound levels for teenagers.Volume, or noise level, is measured in decibels (dB). Adults and children can suffer hearing loss from exposure to noises in excess of 85 dB. Marching band includes a variety of instruments, some of which easily cross over that threshold during rehearsals and performances. An experiment at Duke University showed that a drumline rehearsal exposed students to decibel levels of 99 over a 30-minute period. However, playing those instruments indoors for rehearsals can be even more harmful to teens’ hearing. Unfortunately, many youths don’t reduce the volume of their instruments when playing inside.

Prevention and protection strategies. An effective solution for reducing sound levels is the use of musicians earplugs. These professional earplugs are designed to fit perfectly in the teen’s ears. However, parents often find them to be expensive. Another effective strategy for protecting young people’s hearing is to reduce the length of time they are exposed to potentially harmful sound levels by breaking up the rehearsals into shorter sessions. Increased awareness among teens and band leaders of the importance of reducing instrument sound levels when playing indoors is also key. To best protect the hearing of marching band members, a joint effort between students, band leaders, and parents is recommended.

People depend on their hearing in numerous situations, making it challenging to carry out some basic tasks if your hearing is damaged. Driving a car is one area that can cause problems for many people affected by impaired hearing. Luckily, just because you have problems with hearing does not mean that safe driving is out of the question. Keep these safe driving tips in mind the next time you get behind the wheel.

Keep your car in good shape: Abnormal noises are a typical warning sign that something is not quite right with your vehicle. If you aren‚’t able to hear when something is wrong with your engine you run the risk of driving an unsafe vehicle. Keep regular maintenance appointments with your garage or dealership to make sure your car stays in optimum condition.

Only drive when you feel comfortable: If your hearing loss makes you feel uneasy while driving it‚’s best to avoid it. There are many alternatives to owning an automobile, including public transportation. Driving while stressed or uncomfortable may make you more likely to make dangerous errors, so don‚’t get behind the wheel unless you are feeling safe and confident.

Reduce distractions: Your vision is very important when driving a car with hearing loss. Distractions that take your eyes off the road, such as food or electronic devices, can avert your eyes and put you and your passengers in danger. You‚’ll also find that it becomes more difficult to hear important traffic cues if you have the radio on while driving. Get rid of any influences that get between you and the road to make sure you aren‚’t missing crucial information.

Drive with your hearing aid in mind: If you use a hearing aid make sure that you don‚’t drive without it. Be mindful of how your car‚’s atmosphere can influence your hearing aid’s functionality. Don‚’t be afraid to switch on the AC rather than driving with the windows open. Your hearing aid can become less effective if it is buffeted by a draft from an open window, impairing your hearing and putting you at risk.

Hearing loss doesn‚’t have to keep you from driving if your doctor approves. Stay safe out there!

Missing appendages, post-traumatic stress, and brain trauma: These are what many people think of when they think about post-combat injuries. Hearing loss, though, may not often come to mind. Check out these 5 surprising facts about hearing loss among veterans to learn more.

1. Hearing loss is the most prevalent injury among post-combat veterans. – Hearing loss beats out PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) as the number one service-connected disability. IEDs (improvised explosive devices) can cause hearing damage just as much as commonplace military noise can. The deafening sounds of tank, plane, and ship engines contributes to temporary to permanent hearing loss and tinnitus, as do explosive devices and other loud weapons. Veterans of the post-9/11 conflicts are the most affected population in terms of hearing loss. In fact, 414,000 post 9/11 soldiers have come home with some form of tinnitus or hearing loss.

• More veterans have hearing loss than non-veterans. – Veterans are 30 percent more likely than nonveterans to suffer hearing loss of the severe kind. Worse yet, those who served after 9/11 were found to be four times more likely to be afflicted with some sort of hearing impairment than nonveterans.

• Hearing loss may be more prevalent now than it was for soldiers in the past. – Since IEDs (improvised explosive devices) have become more commonplace and weapons become bigger and louder, more soldiers are losing their hearing. Field generators and powerful “bunker buster” bombs are extremely loud and dangerous to the ears. Even helicopters can cause loss of hearing.

• Unfortunately, many of the soldiers who come home with loss of hearing do not seek help. – Most soldiers with hearing damage or tinnitus avoid seeking out help for their injury upon returning home, according to experts. They often let it go for long periods of time. Incredibly, the average time between someone noticing hearing damage and getting help for it is 7 years.

• Neuroscience innovations may be a way to alleviate severe tinnitus. – Tinnitus cannot be cured completely at this time. However, it’s severity may be linked to maladies caused by serotonin loss, such as depression, sleeplessness, and anxiety. Some veterans with tinnitus have found that anti-depressants combined with other tinnitus therapies eased their chronic condition significantly.

Hearing loss can happen at any age. In fact, nearly 12 percent of kids age 6 through 19 have noise induced hearing loss according to the American Academy of Audiology. The birth defect occurring most frequently in our country is hearing loss. According to the American Speech and Language Association, that number translates to around 12,000 kids each year who are born with hearing loss.

Some hearing loss in kids can be reversible.
– Hearing loss could be a temporary problem in some children resulting from issues such as ear wax occluding the middle ear, or ear infections. Some conditions resulting in hearing loss are temporary and can be resolved with medical treatment or minor surgery. Chronic (long term) ear infections could cause permanent hearing loss so be sure you seek professional help early on if ear infections are suspected.

Early intervention can improve language skills in children with hearing loss. – Early identification and assessment of hearing losses is vital. Studies have shown that infants whose hearing loss is detected after 6 months of age did comparably worse on language skill development compared to infants where the loss was detected and treated before 6 months.

Hearing loss could delay language development. – Language development in the brain of children is at its highest level between age 0 and 3. Young children need to have proper hearing function in order to develop normal speech patterns. Good language skills are very important in order for a young child to learn how to read.

Not all hearing loss is permanent. – There are types of hearing loss that are preventable, including noise related damage to the hearing. It’s important to learn how to use protective gear such as earplugs and earmuffs to prevent loud noises from causing damage. And, be sure to keep the volume down on electronic devices.

Hearing loss signs and symptoms are often times initially observed by parents.
– In many instances parents are the very first to notice something is not quite right in young kids with hearing loss. Signs to watch for include: response to music and making jabbering sounds. At 9 months your baby should respond to the sound of his/her name, repeat back some noises he/she hears and follow simple commands. Be sure to ask your hearing specialist or audiologist for a more conclusive list of signs and symptoms to watch for, as well as his/her recommendation on when your child should have a professional hearing screening.

Much of your ability to hear is governed by miniature nerve endings in your inner ear. If these nerves are damaged, or if damage occurs in other areas of the inner ear, sensorineural hearing loss can result.

In most cases, sensorineural deafness does not result in a complete inability to hear. Actually, in many cases only certain sounds become difficult to hear. Some sounds may seem too loud, while others may seem much less distinctive. Background noise often compounds the issue. Speech can be especially challenging to understand in noisy environments. The individual may have difficulty when attempting to follow a conversation with more than one person speaking and may notice that women’s voices are harder to understand than men’s. Troubles in hearing aren’t the only symptom of sensorineural hearing loss: tinnitus and dizziness can also occur.

There are many different causes of sensorineural hearing loss. Sometimes this form of deafness exists since birth. Genetic problems can result in many forms of congenital sensorineural hearing loss, while in other cases infections passed from mother to infant are the root cause.

As a person matures, sensorineural hearing loss can be caused by a number of different issues. One such cause is acoustic trauma, or contact with an excessively loud noise. Consistent exposure to lower level noise, such as working with noisy equipment or listening to loud music, can also result in inner ear damage.

Sensorineural hearing loss can come on suddenly, such as in the case of viral infections. Viruses such as mumps, measles and meningitis can all lead to this issue. Fluctuating hearing loss that comes and goes combined with vertigo and tinnitus can be a sign of Meniere’s Disease. Corticosteroids may prove helpful in these two cases.

Sensorineural hearing loss can be caused by tumors, as well as sudden changes in air pressure and head trauma. A hereditary disorder known as otosclerosis can cause a bony growth to form around an important bone in the middle ear, leading to this type of hearing loss.

There is no doubt that sensorineural hearing loss can drastically decrease your quality of life, but there are ways to deal with it.

Certainly illness and injury can cause hearing loss, but could genetics also contribute? Quite simply, the answer is “Yes.” Genetic abnormalities actually cause most types of hearing loss. On top of that, hearing loss is regarded as the most common birth defect in the developed world.

DNA, genes and inheritance. Our is DNA composed of genes, which behave like tiny pieces of code that, when set in a certain combination, cause all of us to look and function the way we do. Scientists have discovered over 100 genes that can impact hearing. Hearing loss may result from any one of these genes being missing or altered. When an individual having these abnormal gene sequences has a child, the irregular gene or genes are often passed on to the child too.

Genetic hearing loss variations. Some varieties of genetic hearing loss can visibly affect the outer ear, while other forms just affect hearing in the inner ear. The hearing loss can be conductive, sensorineural or mixed. Note that, hereditary hearing loss can reveal itself at birth or later on in life. Usher syndrome affects over fifty percent of the deaf-blind population, making it one of the most common causes of hearing loss. Another named disorder that includes hearing loss is Waardenburg syndrome. Telltale signs include streaks of white hair, pale skin and light-colored eyes in addition to the hearing loss.

The good news about hereditary hearing losses. Just because a parent has hearing loss, does not automatically mean the child will have hearing loss too. Genes which contribute to hearing loss are commonly recessive. So long as the child inherits a normal copy of the gene from one parent, their hearing should be normal. Even if both parents suffer from hearing loss, their kids may still not be affected by hearing loss because different genes may be responsible in each parent. People concerned with genetic hearing loss can see a doctor for genetic testing that can help determine risks.