Much Noise Is Harmful: Hearing Loss

With extreme noise, nerve cells suffer and, as a consequence, hearing loss occurs. It happens with them like what would happen to the fibers of a very soft carpet that we place a piece of furniture on for a long time: they will never recover their original position.

Modern life is noisy. Today it is impossible to escape from the hell of traffic, airplanes, trains, factories, drills that tear the pavement … The intensity and constancy of these noises are overwhelming, which, without a doubt, is worrying for the hearing loss that derives from this constant submission.

This, in addition, not only affects our hearing capacity, but also our behavior. With such a lot of noise, stress, hypertension, anxiety, and feelings of helplessness are the most common. Likewise, it must be taken into account that noise is especially stressful when it is unpredictable or uncontrollable.

Hearing, a fascinating perceptual process

Hearing is a wonderful thing that we do every day without hardly thinking about it. We convert air pressure waves into nerve impulses that the brain interprets as if it were a symphony of meaningful sounds.

We are able to perceive everything from the sound produced by a piano key to the buzzing of a small mosquito. We capture how air molecules collide with each other and turn them into sounds.

Sound waves travel through the ear canal and produce tiny vibrations in the eardrum through a mechanical sequence of events. These vibrations are transmitted through the middle ear to the fluid-filled cochlea, creating movements in the hair cells, which cause nerve stimuli to reach the brain.

As we can see, the ear has an intricate and delicate structure. This makes it vulnerable to certain injuries at a mechanical level (conduction deafness) and at a nervous level (sensorineural deafness).

Hearing loss

Hearing loss related to acoustic canal damage or nerve disorders can be due to prolonged exposure to loud noise and age-related diseases or disorders. Likewise, as this study published in the Journal of the UNAM Faculty of Medicine points out, this hearing loss caused by noise is one of the most common causes of hearing loss.

In this sense, it should be noted that we all lose hearing capacity over the years. Thus, the auditory range that we perceive measured in hertz (Hz) will depend on the age. We leave you this link to an illustrative video that will help you to know which sounds you perceive and which you do not.

As you will notice, the older we are, the worse we hear the higher frequencies. It is curious and fun to carry out this test among different people in our environment. Likewise, exposure to prolonged sounds of intensity greater than 85 decibels can cause hearing loss, which can lead to sensorineural deafness, as shown in this publication of the Cuban Journal of Military Medicine .

To give us a more approximate idea:

• 20 decibels equals one sigh.
• 40 decibels to normal room noise.
• 60 decibels to a normal conversation.
• 80 decibels to intersection noise on a busy street.
• 100 decibels to a 6 meter subway train.
• 110 decibels to a plane at 150 meters.
• 120 decibels to loud thunder.
• 140 decibels to a rock group heard very close.

Destruction of hair cells due to aging or excess noise: hearing loss

The destruction of hair cells has no going back in humans, as this research published in the Las Condes Clinical Medical Journal points out . Although, as has been discovered, there are animals such as sharks and birds that do regenerate their hearing cells.

Thus, scientists have found certain forms of chemical stimulation that appear to regenerate these cells in guinea pigs and rat pups, so that it may one day be possible to “trick” the human cochlea into regenerating its cells.

However, until now, the solution to restore hearing in sensorineural deafness is by implanting a kind of bionic ear called a cochlear implant.

Living in a Silent World: The Culture of the Deaf

People with hearing loss make up a very heterogeneous group not only because there are different degrees of hearing capacity, but because there are those who have never heard and those who have at some time in their lives.

Thus, while people who have always been deaf share the culture of the deaf, communicate with the rest of the world fluently and without difficulty, people who have gone from being hearing to non-hearing perceive their new condition as a lack of ability.

People with hearing loss often face great social challenges that they have to learn to manage. It is important that, when  faced with hearing loss, personal worth is promoted and communication with others is enhanced, even if there is the abyss of silence.

Tips to take care of hearing health

To take care of hearing health it is advisable that we take into account the following recommendations:

• Do not put on sound devices at the same time and always keep them at low volume.
• Do not use music players for more than an hour and limit the volume to a maximum of 60% of their capacity.
• Use hearing protection whenever we need it.
• Take care of our ears against colds, flu or infections.
• Using plugs and drying our ears after swimming in pools to limit moisture in the ear canal.
• Do not put objects in our ears, not even cotton swabs, as they can pierce the membrane or the eardrum.

• Check our hearing periodically as a prevention method.