World Hearing Day is celebrated annually on 3 March to create awareness of hearing and promote ear care. We are blessed with the wonderful sense of hearing to connect us to our world, family and friends. Due to many factors, we slowly lose our hearing over time and it becomes more difficult to communicate in groups of people or when background noise is present.
The ear is designed to collect sound and to encode it so the brain can process the code and give meaning to sound. The eardrum transfers the sound waves to the middle-ear bones that in turn send the sound waves, that have now been changed to mechanical energy, to the cochlea. This turns the sound into nerve impulses that are sent to the brain for processing. Hearing loss occurs when there is a breakdown in any of these systems.
Middle-ear infection, perforation to the ear drum or damage to the cochlea all contribute to hearing loss. This leads to a deterioration in the message that arrives at the brain and this complicates the processing of the sound. Damage to the cochlea is classified as sensorineural hearing loss. Statistics show people over age 40 are at risk of age-related hearing loss, but many lifestyle factors can also cause hearing loss. A large part of hearing occurs in the brain, and if hearing loss is present and untreated patients are at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Therefore, it is important to test your hearing and determine the hearing status to prevent and reverse mild cognitive decline.
One of the leading causes of hearing loss at a younger age is noise exposure. In the digital age when cellphones and insert earphones, video gaming and loud music are a common occurrence, this can cause damage to the hearing. The 60/60 rule for headphones is simple: listen to your music at 60% of the maximum volume for no more than 60 minutes daily. In this way the level of the sound and duration of exposure is limited. Earplugs for loud concerts or loud noise at work is the best way to protect the hearing from noise. The noise-induced kind is the only preventable form of hearing loss. We cannot fight our genetics, medical conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure or cholesterol and heart disease, but exposure to damaging noise is preventable.
Celebrate the gift of sound. Protect your hearing.
