Mr. Sanjay Mahato

Hearing is one of the five senses that you or anyone else relies on for communication and a whole host of other things. Among the five senses, touch, smell, taste, hearing and sight, it is often hearing, which is the most easily affected. You don't have to be a senior citizen to experience hearing loss as it is quite common among younger people as well. This problem is also getting widespread with each passing day.

Before coping with hearing loss, the first job is to detect it
If you have a hunch that you or any of your loved ones is suffering from hearing loss, it is important that you get it diagnosed. Some of the common symptoms of hearing loss will be:

1. Hearing difficulties while talking to someone over the phone
2. Straining to hear conversations with family members or friends in household situations 
3. People usually need to repeat what they talk to you with a louder voice
4. You often hear complaints that you keep the TV too loud.
5. In crowded situations, such as family gatherings or a restaurant, you have problems listening to people.

Although this condition tends to affect senior citizens, an increasing trend shows younger people i.e. people mostly in their 40 and 50s and even younger than that suffer from this condition.

How to deal with hearing loss?
Some of the options to deal with hearing loss are mentioned below.

1. Once diagnosed with hearing problems, change your ways of communication: If you or your loved ones have been diagnosed with hearing problems, it is important that both adjust your ways to deal with the problem. Rather than getting angry at the other for not being able to communicate effectively, develop and strategize ways to make communication less problematic and erratic.
2. Cochlear implants: This is a newer technology, which has gained popularity in the past decade or so. These are directly implanted into the inner ear and are designed to bypass the damaged areas of the ear and directly stimulate the auditory nerve. These have become very popular, although, are not a replacement of natural hearing. It is only prescribed for people who have severe hearing loss or are deaf.
3. Hearing aids: Although selecting a hearing aid is difficult as the patient needs to be comfortable, once selected it is one of the best solutions for the hearing impaired. The functionality of these devices can be extended with the hearing assistive technology or HAT devices that can focus the audio waves depending on the situations and give a more tailored approach for every individual's needs. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult an Ent Specialist.

Did you know your earphones are making you deaf? Here's how.

Fact: Roughly 1.1 billion people worldwide within the age group of 12-35 have been found to be at an increased risk of developing hearing problems.

Listening to loud music on handheld devices using earphones has become a common trend among youngsters these days. You might find it very relaxing to plug in your earphones and escape into your own world of music, but you need to know that this can cause serious damage to your ears. The worst part: you won't realise your ears are being damaged until it's too late.

So, exactly how is loud music damaging your ears?

Continuous exposure to loud music from earphones or other sources results in a medical condition known as Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL), which can be associated with irreversible damage to the ears resulting in deafness.

When you hear loud music for a considerable amount of time every day it affects your hair cells (nerve cells responsible for sending sound signals to the brain) negatively, so that their ability to respond to sound decreases. If this keeps on happening for many months, eventually the hair cells are damaged beyond repair. These cells cannot be regenerated, making you permanently deaf.

How loud is too loud?

If your ears are exposed to sounds at 95, 100, 105, 110 and 115 dB (decibel, the unit used for measuring sound) for 4 hours, 2 hours, 1 hour, 30 minutes and 15 minutes each day respectively, your ears are at risk of getting severely damaged. Also, playing music at 120 dB or above can damage your ears instantly. You can have a realistic idea about the relation between decibels and sounds you commonly hear by referring to this list:

1. 30 dB: soft whisper
2. 75 dB: busy traffic
3. 90 dB: noise of a motorcycle at 25 feet
4. 100 dB: noise of a farm tractor
5. 140 dB: jet plane taking off

Moreover, if you experience the following symptoms regularly, there's a high chance that you need to get your ears treated soon:

1. A ringing sound in your ears when you are at a quiet place, which vanishes after a few minutes
2. You need to raise the volume of TV or music to the fullest to hear it properly
3. You have difficulty in hearing people talking at a distance of just 3 feet

Tips For Safer Listening

1. Use earplugs: The louder the noise and the longer you're exposed to it, the greater the chance of damaging your hearing. Protect your ears with ear protectors – earplugs or earmuffs – and get away from the noise as quickly or as often as you can. 
2. Turn down the music: Don't listen to your personal music player at very high volumes and never to drown out background noise. If the music is uncomfortable for you to listen to, or you can’t hear external sounds when you’ve got your headphones on, then it's too loud. It's also too loud if the person next to you can hear the music from your headphones.
3. Use the 60:60 rule: To enjoy music from your MP3 player safely, listen to your music at 60% of the maximum volume for no more than 60 minutes a day. 
4. Wear headphones: When listening to your personal music player, choose noise-cancelling headphones, or go retro with older muff-type headphones. Ear-bud style headphones and in-the-ear headphones are less effective at drowning out background noise. 
5. Turn down the dial: Turn down the volume on your TV, radio or hi-fi a notch. Even a small reduction in volume can make a big difference to the risk of damage to your hearing. 
6. Use earplugs when you’re listening to live music: They can reduce average sound levels by between 15 and 35 decibels. They’re widely available at many live music venues and shouldn’t spoil your enjoyment of the music.
7. Don't put up with work noise: If you’re experiencing noise at work, talk to your human resources (HR) department or your manager and ask for advice on reducing the noise and getting hearing protection.
8. Wear ear protectors: Wear ear protectors (earplugs or earmuffs) if you are using noisy equipment such as power drills, saws, sanders or lawn mowers.
9. Be careful in the car: Listening to music in a confined space increases the risk of hearing damage. Don’t listen to music too loud for too long.
10. Have a hearing detox: Give your ears time to recover after they’ve been exposed to loud noise. According to Action on Hearing Loss, you need at least 16 hours of rest for your ears to recover after spending around two hours in 100dB sound, for example in a club. Reducing this recovery time increases the risk of permanent deafness. In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

Research published recently has proved beyond a sliver of doubt that there is a strong link between addressing hearing loss and quality of life. Research shows that people with hearing loss who use hearing aids have better mental health, fewer symptoms of depression, and better social engagement. There is also an undeniable link between untreated hearing loss and mood swings. When left unaddressed, hearing loss is frequently associated with mood swings that affect a person’s social, professional and marital relations.

A study published in JAMA found that hearing loss is especially linked to an increased risk of depression in the age group of 18-69 years. Hearing loss and impaired mental health is known to affect the quality of life of elderly patients more. People in old age with hearing loss are 57 percent more likely to have episodes of stress and depression than their peers with normal hearing. And significant studies have proved that these cases can be reversed using hearing aids.

Using a professionally fitted hearing aid can ease the stress associated with intensive listening and it improves communication significantly in people affected by hearing loss. Because of these findings, health professionals believe that hearing aids can improve the quality of life, especially in older adults with hearing loss and are rooting for mandatory testing for hearing loss amongst all age groups and especially in older adults.

The other benefits of hearing aids-reasons for getting a hearing aid are-
1. Feeling positive: People with hearing loss who use hearing aids are more likely to be happy and engaged in life.
2. Living fully: People with hearing aids get more pleasure in doing simple things like watching TV and talking with friends etc. This helps in upping their overall quality of life.
3. Stronger relationships: Hearing aids allow people to engage in group activities and improve their quality of life.
4. Improved communication: Man is a social animal. He needs to communicate. As hearing aids help people listen and distinguish sounds, it improves their communication skills. Their speech improves which means that people can understand what they are saying better and are more motivated to speak with them. This reduces social isolation of the hearing loss affected person substantially.
5. Reduced risk of income loss: Wearing hearing aids at work helps people with especially milder hearing loss to perform optimally and stop downsizing.

In short, treatment of hearing loss using hearing aids can improve-
• Family relationships
• Your ability to communicate
• Your earning power
• Control over your life
• Social participation
• Emotional well-being

This is why everyone should invest in a hearing test at least once a year. This will help catch hearing loss earlier and prevent aural deterioration. 

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!