Hearing loss occurring more often in young
Everyday loud noise, including traffic and music via earbuds contributing
Hearing loss, that’s an older person’s problem, right? Think again. Noise, not age, is the leading cause of hearing loss. While hearing problems are common among older folks, damage from everyday noise is growing among younger Americans, including those in their teens and 20s.
The latest research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows some 40 million Americans ages 20 to 69 with hearing damage from everyday loud noise, including heavy traffic, noisy restaurants, rock concerts, sporting events and loud music via earbuds.
Among 12- to 19-year-olds, researchers estimate some 17 percent show evidence of noise-induced hearing loss in one or both ears.
Worse, many Americans don’t even realize their hearing has been affected. In the CDC’s analysis of more than 3,500 hearing tests, one out of four adults claimed their hearing was just fine and reported no job-related noise, yet hearing tests indicated they already had noise-induced hearing loss. This type of damage causes a telltale drop in the ability to hear high-pitched sounds, and it was evident in those as young as 20.
“We have government standards in the workplace to protect workers from noise, but nothing protects you from a society getting noisier every year,” says audiologist Jack Scott, of the Center for Audiology, Speech, Language, and Learning at Northwestern University. Even in protected parks and wildlife areas, a recent study found that noise pollution from traffic, logging and drilling has doubled, drowning out the natural sounds of birds and rushing water.
Sarah Sydlowski, the audiology director of the hearing implant program at the Cleveland Clinic, puts the problem this way: “The baby boomer generation is dealing with skin cancer from the tanning they did as teens. This generation will have to deal with the consequences of noise exposure that damaged their hearing.”
Many young adults don’t realize that hearing loss is permanent. When loud noise kills the sensitive inner-ear cells that allow us to hear, they don’t regenerate. “The hearing you have when you’re born is all you get. Those cells can’t be replaced,” says Sydlowski says.
And the damage is cumulative, adds Scott. The more often the ears are exposed to damaging noise, the more cells die, leading to impaired hearing.
Part of the reason hearing damage is showing up earlier is today’s improved portable devices. The sound level 28 years ago from the Walkman, with its flimsy headphones, was much lower than today’s high-fidelity smartphones with earbuds that deliver louder sound much closer to the eardrum.
A study that compared hearing tests of teens during the late ’80s and ’90s — when Walkmans were popular — with tests in 2005 to 2006 — when iPods were all the rage — found the levels of mild hearing loss jumped 30 percent.
But don’t just blame the earbuds, says Sydlowski. People underestimate what a safe level of sound is, “especially when they’re already in a noisy environment.”
Both she and Scott say a common problem among their younger patients is cranking up the sound in their earbuds to mask the noise around them. “I had a patient who listened to loud music through his earbuds while he was mowing the lawn to drown out the noise of the mower,” says Scott. Unfortunately, using noise to drown out noise, “makes it even worse.”
Are you in denial?
An estimated 27 million Americans older than 50 have hearing loss, but only one in seven uses a hearing aid, according to a recent Johns Hopkins University study. Typically, hearing aid users wait 10 years before getting help, which worsens the problem.
For those who are reluctant to deal with their hearing loss, here’s what experts have to say:
Forget the stigma. People worry that wearing a hearing aid will make them look old, “but answering incorrectly — or not at all — because you can’t hear also sends a negative message,” says Cleveland Clinic audiologist Sarah Sydlowksi. Plus, she adds, a hearing aid can help you stay effective in your job or volunteer work.
It’s not just your ears — it’s your brain. Hearing loss has been linked to a growing list of health consequences, including walking problems, increased falls and a higher risk of dementia — possibly because of the social isolation caused by hearing loss.