Facts About Hearing Loss
Approximately 36 million Americans suffer from hearing loss.
*More than half of the people with hearing loss are younger than age 65.
*Untreated hearing loss can affect your ability to understand speech and can negatively impact your social and emotional well-being—hearing impairment can decrease your quality of life!
*Hearing loss is the third most common health problem in the United States.
Signs you may have a hearing loss:
*Difficulty hearing people talk in noisy environments such as a restaurant, shopping mall, in a car, or at the movie theater.
*People seem to “mumble” all the time.
*Family, friends, or colleagues often have to repeat themselves when speaking with you.
*You have trouble hearing people when they are not facing you or are in another room.
*You have trouble following conversations.
* You have ringing, buzzing, or hissing sounds in your ears.
What causes hearing loss?
*Exposure to excessive loud noise.
* Ear infections, trauma, or ear disease.
*Damage to the inner ear and ear drum from contact with a foreign object (cotton swabs, bobby pins, etc.) .
*Illness or certain medications.
*Deteriorating hearing due to the normal aging process.
How to protect your hearing:
*Wear hearing protection when around sounds louder than 85 dB for a long period of time. There are different types of hearing protection such as foam earplugs, earmuffs and custom hearing protection devices. Contact your local audiologist for custom hearing protection devices.
*Turn down the volume when listening to the radio, the TV, MP3 player, or anything through ear buds and headphones. (Visit www.TurnItToTheLeft.com)
*Walk away from the noise.
*And, other than hearing protection, do not put anything in your ear!
For more information on audiology and hearing loss, visit www.HowsYourHearing.org.
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