Deaf Service Center

How many time have each of us gone into our teenagers bedroom and asked them to turn the music down or been sat behind someone on a bus that was wearing headphones plugged into some type of musical device and said to ourselves “he/she will turn themselves deaf with that racket”.

We have all probably at some time or other encountered the situation but it is actually something that shouldn’t be taken lightly and loss of hearing or deafness can in fact be contributed to prolonged use of loud music.

Hearing loss associated with this is called acoustic trauma and gradual hearing loss over a prolonged period of exposure to loud music can be one of the causes, the hearing loss may be temporary or become permanent.

The Most Common Causes of Acoustic Trauma

• Any loud amplified music such as continual use of listening to music through headphones.
• Sitting too close to speakers at live concerts.
• Prolonged exposure to industrial noise such as sirens, jet engines, power tools or hydraulic machinery.
• Physical injury occurring to the ear or eardrum.
• Explosive sounds such as deployment of the air bag in a car.
• Rapid changes in pressure such as underwater diving or in an aeroplane.

People suffering from hearing loss due to acoustic trauma first experience the loss of high pitched sounds such as bells and chimes increasing trouble in hearing low pitched sounds will then follow such as the ability in hearing people speak.

Diagnosis of Hearing Loss

Diagnosis will be made in the form of a hearing test usually called an audiology examination, through this exam you will be tested on the actual sounds you can hear these will vary according to the tone and loudness.

The intensity or loudness of sound is measured in decibels with a whisper being about 20 decibels and loud music somewhere between 80 to 120 decibels. Sounds generally over 85 decibels can cause some degree of hearing loss in just a few hours.

The tone of the sound or pitch is measured in cycles per second or hertz with high pitched shrill sounds being around 10,000 hertz or higher and the low bass tones being around 50 to 60 hertz.

The test will usually be conducted by covering one ear at a time and checking if the person can hear whispers then words being spoken.

A tuning fork can also be used in the diagnosis and this will be tapped and then held on each side of the head in the air to test how well the person can hear by air conduction. The overall test can take about an hour to be conducted and no discomfort will be felt throughout.