Give the earbuds a break for hearing health
Changes in workplace safety have seen a decrease in the numbers of people suffering from hearing loss from industrial noise over recent decades.
Now the most significant risk factor to people's hearing is in the area of recreational noise. We can take steps to make sure that our use of headphones and earbud technologies will not cause permanent damage.
Hearing Australia's principal audiologist for commercial clinical services, Karen Hirschausen, said the two main risk factors for hearing loss remained age and noise exposure. As we get older, our hearing naturally deteriorates.
Hearing loss as a result of noise can happen at any age and, with people wearing headphones significantly more often, the risk rises.
"There is a pretty common misconception that it just relates to the volume, but with noise exposure, it's also a cumulative effect, so the noise itself might not be uncomfortably loud, but if you're listening to it for long periods it accumulates, and that is actually more detrimental to you than a short sharp burst of loud noise," Karen said.
A noise level of 85 decibels - equivalent to loud speech - can be safely tolerated for about eight hours a day.
For every three decibels above that level, Karen warns it halves the amount of time you can expose yourself to it.
She recommends that, if someone is sitting at a conversational distance from you (one-to-two metres) and can hear what is coming out of your headphones, that's too loud.
"You should be able to hold a reasonable conversation with someone at that distance, even with headphones on [excluding noise-cancelling headphones]," she said.
"Every hour or so, take a few minutes' break and break up the amount of time you're exposing yourself to noise."
Loud noises are damaging, even in short spurts, Karen warns, so ear protection should be worn, even if that whipper snipping job will only take 10 minutes.
It is also essential to stick to the adage that nothing smaller than your elbow should go in your ear.
While it might seem that you are getting wax out of your ears with a cotton bud, you are in danger of pushing wax further in, increasing the risk of the blockage or perforating an eardrum.
Hearing health has long been tied to all-round wellbeing, particularly in maintaining mental wellness and preventing social isolation.
People with an untreated hearing loss report higher rates of depression and anxiety. It can lead them to avoid social situations and talking on the phone.
The extra effort required to keep up with conversations using visual and contextual cues can result in social gatherings being exhausting for people with hearing loss.
It is vital that anyone who suspects they may be suffering from any level of hearing loss to seek a test.
You can access a free preliminary hearing test online at Hearing Australia's website.
On average, Karen said people have reported they waited seven years from noticing the first symptoms of hearing loss to doing something about it. Auditory nerves are a bit like a muscle; if you don't use it, you lose it.
"Sometimes if people do leave it an extraordinarily long time that nerve fibre has deteriorated over time," she said.
"They might get hearing aids, but the sound quality may not return to 100 per cent because that degradation of the nerve fibre has happened."
The sooner someone seeks help, the better for their long-term hearing outcomes.
