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Turn Down That IPod And Listen Up! Get Checkups To Protect Hearing

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 1, 2007

Hearing Aid Awareness Week began Sunday and continues through Saturday. In honor of this important awareness initiative, I will conduct free hearing screenings at my JC Audiology clinic on Wednesday.

The clinic is in the North Fork Professional Center, 1541 Dale Mabry Highway, Suite 201, in Lutz. It's just north of County Line Road. No appointment is necessary Wednesday, but if individuals would like to schedule one, please call (813) 949-1331.

Here are some fast facts about hearing loss:

•About 31.5 million Americans have hearing loss. Hearing loss typically occurs gradually over time, so the effects often are subtle.

•The average person waits seven years after the onset of hearing loss before getting a hearing test.

•Hearing loss can have a large impact on a person's quality of life. Some people may remove themselves from conversations and activities because they are unable to fully enjoy them as they once did, which often leads to feelings of isolation and depression.

•Hearing loss is the third most prevalent, but treatable, disabling condition in seniors behind arthritis and hypertension.

•Two-thirds of people with hearing loss are below retirement age.

•The Better Hearing Institute found that untreated hearing loss cut household income by an average of nearly $23,000 per year.

•The use of hearing aids mitigates the effects of hearing loss on income by about 50 percent, according to a study by the Better Hearing Institute.

Ear protection is necessary for better hearing health. A safe exposure is 85 decibels. The longer you are exposed to noise above 85 decibels, the more harmful it can be to your hearing.

And consider these decibel levels: busy city traffic, 85 db; hair dryer, 90; rock concert, 105; chain saw, 110; an iPod at peak volume, 115; and a jackhammer, 120.
Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations require workers who use jackhammers and chain saws to wear ear protection, but there is no such requirement for how individuals use iPods in their recreational time.

Yet the harmful effects are the same: loss of hearing!

Protect your ears, and get your hearing checked by an audiologist.

Judith Reese is a Lutz audiologist nationally known for her research on hearing aids. The Hearing Journal recognized her work as among the best in the nation among hearing professionals in 2005.

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