Protecting Your Hearing
How does noise and loud sounds damage our hearing?
The ear is an amazing and complex organ, with delicate parts that are sensitive to the impact of loud sound. The inner ear consists of thousands of sensory cells that convert sound into nerve impulses so that the brain can understand the signal. If these hair cells are exposed to very loud sounds they can be damaged or even destroyed, with hearing loss the result.
How loud is “too loud”?
We live in a noisy world. On a daily basis we are exposed to sounds at work, home, school, sports, traffic, clubs, theatre, and concerts. These can all be enjoyable experiences but when it is too loud it can become harmful. The sound level scale developed by E-A-R research illustrates the typical sound levels we may experience and where it becomes harmful to our ears. Normally 85dB is the level at which prolonged exposure can cause hearing loss, but the length of time/duration of exposure is also a significant factor.
How do I protect the hearing that I have?
We want to protect the hearing we’ve got, and there are many ways to do so: earplugs, custom and non-custom (the famous yellow earplugs); earmuffs, musician plugs, HiFi earplugs and the list goes on! Available in many bright coloured options they are easy to see and less likely to be lost. In the work environment co-workers can also see when you are wearing noise protection. This tells them they need to get your attention first when trying to communicate!