Summer sounds can cause hearing damage
(HealthDay)—The sounds of summer can cause hearing damage, warn experts from Penn State University.
Huseyin Isildak, M.D., director of otology and neurotology in the Division of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery at the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, says that sounds associated with summer fun—fireworks, music concerts, and lawnmowers—can cause real damage. Ear plugs and moving far enough away from the noise source can prevent damage.
Additionally, Isildak sees ear trouble resulting from time spent in the water. Ear plugs can prevent the most common issue—water in the ear. He recommends that before going scuba diving, divers should be sure that they don’t have any ear or nose conditions that would prevent being able to balance the pressure. Isildak also suggests allergy sufferers be advised to use a nasal spray or take allergy medicine before they go diving.
Many of us like to fill our summer calendar with concerts and music festivals, including loud concerts.
Can you hear what you’re doing?
A recent study from the American Medical Association says too much loud music can have a lasting impact on our hearing.
You can wear two of those foamy ear plugs, but what’s the point? You won’t hear much.
Dr. Sharon Sandridge, of the Cleveland Clinic, suggests having custom-made earplugs, especially if you attend a lot of concerts.
“If you are a concert-goer and you go on a routine basis, you really should have custom earplugs made by your audiologist because those will help lessen the intensity but maintain the frequency response, so it will sound real natural whereas just the foamy roll-up ones tend to change the frequency response and then the quality of it,” she said.
You should protect your hearing somehow.
That ringing you might hear in your ears after a concert may be temporary, but this type of decrease in hearing actually causes permanent damage in the microscopic parts of the ear.
Whenever you go into any situation where there will be loud noise — a concert or sporting event — remember your ears. An earplug might help.
