By Corina Tan
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Loss of one’s hearing is often associated with old age. The truth is, hearing loss can affect people of all ages for a variety of reasons. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that 50 per cent of people 13 to 33 years of age are at risk for developing hearing loss due to recreational noise. That is a huge number of young people who may be susceptible and not even know it.
Headphones and earbuds are big contributors to hearing damage. Listening to many hours of music every day at an unhealthy noise level of above 70 decibels, can significantly affect hearing. In fact, earbuds increase a sound’s volume by 6 to 9 decibels because they are located inside the ear canal. If absolutely necessary, earphones are better than earbuds because the distance from sound to eardrum is further. Although this may seem minimal, it may be a crucial factor in the long run. If you tend to use these devices often, you may want to start paying attention to signs of compromised hearing, be mindful to tone down the volume and reduce the duration of use.
Some signs that hearing could well be impaired are listed below:
Ringing in the ears
This symptom may come and go, or you may start to hear a low-level buzzing or ringing sound. When the frequency increases and it becomes more noticeable, or is constantly there, it could mean that nerves in the ears are damaged.
Painful loud noises
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When you lose your hearing, your ear is less able to dampen loud noises. This makes them particularly unbearable and painful. The pain is difficult to describe, but it is somewhere between a sharp shooting pain and a dull ache.
Losing your balance
Clumsiness is not always the reason for stumbling, tripping or falling. When a person has trouble hearing, they tend to make a lot of effort to hear things around them. The focus on hearing tends to compromise a person’s balance.
Trouble with movie-dialogue
Conversations in movies and TV shows may be difficult for people who suffer from hearing loss. The majority of loss are of high-pitched sounds and speech which usually has a high frequency.
Memory impairment
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Awareness of memory loss usually happens in advance of hearing loss. The truth is, even mild hearing loss can have a negative impact on cognitive abilities. A 2021 study published by the Journal of Neurology found that hearing loss in the general population is associated with lower baseline levels of cognitive function and decreased performance on memory tests over time. Speech comprehension suffers as a person can completely misconstrue words or statements. This affects the ability to recall important information that was misheard or understood incorrectly.
Dementia
A study focusing on dementia, tested 639 people over a span of 12 to 18 years. The discovery and results indicated that the worse the initial hearing loss, the more likely the person was to develop dementia. When compared with people of normal hearing, those with moderate hearing loss had triple the risk though not everyone is certain to develop it.
Good functioning ears can pick up what you want to hear even in a very noisy room with many distractions. One of the early signs of hearing loss is when you are not able to do this anymore. If you are concerned that your hearing is impaired, it may be time to seek help from a qualified audiologist so that progression is managed effectively and at an early stage.
