The famous mythical use of ear plugs was in the Odyssey. Odysseus packed his ears with wax to avoid hearing the destructive songs of the sirens during his voyage back home. Today the use of earplugs is not as dramatic. These are used to avert the irreversible damage of hearing loss caused by a noisy environment.

Hearing problems and other impairment are caused by various factors. These could be congenital, caused by the aging process, drug induced, or the result of illness. However, there are also causes for hearing loss that could have been averted–noise. It is estimated that billions of people all over the world are suffering from hearing loss or impairment. In 1998, over 509,000 people in Britain alone suffered hearing loss due to their past work in industrial sites.

The figure alone is overwhelming considering the sheer number of the workforce in related industries. Disability pay for hearing loss is grown to alarming proportions prompting remedial solutions to the problem in the workplace. Industries have mitigated the problem with noise reduction efforts and the recommended use of ear plugs during industrial activities.

What Affects Your Hearing?

In the U.S., 10 million Americans have hearing loss caused by occupational noise but the figure also includes children and teens. Teenagers are more susceptible to dangerous levels of noise at clubs and sports events. The excessive use of the portable music players with in-ear headphones are to be blamed also for the rise in hearing loss among teens. The use of earplugs has to be advocated to save people from noise induced deafness.

The damage to the inner ear caused by harmful noise are sometime very difficult to detect. But once exposed to dangerous noise levels, our Corti, the inner ear organ, is dislocated from its position. Lesions appear to indicate damage. The daily exposure to harmful noise at work hastens the degeneration of the Corti. The degeneration process spreads to the other parts of the inner ear. Since symptoms are not always accompanied by pain, it is always too late to save the situation.

The symptoms of hearing loss are varied:

•Inability to detect low and high pitched sounds

•Louder TV volume

•Louder speaking voice

•Ringing and hissing in the ears alerts you to ear problems and hearing loss.

•Difficulty understanding what others are saying

•Pain in the ear

•Presence of pus and leaking fluid

If you or a loved one exhibits any of these symptoms, have an audiologist assess the extent of the auditory damage.

How to Protect Your Hearing

To protect your hearing, use ear plugs on the way to work or school and at work when industrial noise is unavoidable. There are varying kinds of anti-noise plugs for adults and children and these are affordable and some are disposable. Custom-made ear plugs can also be ordered if it is for permanent use at work. Since hearing loss is irreversible, it is best to protect yourself and you family and pts from the onslaught of noise at work and play with the use of noise canceling devices.

Instruct teens at home to lower the volume of their portable players, TVs and other noise-inducing entertainment devices. Let everybody wear earplugs when vacuuming and doing the laundry to prevent gradual hearing loss.