Research has shown that half of us will experience some form of hearing loss in our life. This is a huge amount of us and could be reduced with some small changes in our life styles. Many of us believe that losing our hearing is just part of ageing. Although this is true in some cases, there are many people suffering from noise induced hearing loss and not aware of it. As this develops slowly over a number of years, it sometimes doesn’t show its self until later life, hence the confusion.
You may be forgiven for thinking that deafness can only be caused by extreme noises like explosions, this isn’t the case. Sounds of 85dB and over has the capability of causing noise induced hearing loss. To put this into context, a hair dryer can easily exceed this. Don’t be alarmed as using your hair dryer once a day for a few minutes won’t cause damage. The length of exposure is also a attributing factor. The longer the exposure, the quieter the noise has to be. The opposite is also true, the louder the noise the shorter the period to cause deafness.
Many people suffer deafness due to their working environment. Your employer has to protect you from noise or they would be liable for hearing loss claims against them. If you work in a noisy environment you need to insist you are protected or you could issues later in live.
Your diet can have a big impact on the likelihood of developing hearing loss. Studies have should that certain vitamins and minerals can help prevent and treat hearing loss. Noise induced hearing loss is caused due to damage to the inner hairs in the ear. This happens due to the build up of Free Radicals. Vitamins A,C and E can stop the build up of these and help prevent hearing loss occurring. This said it doesn’t mean that taking a few vitamins will make you immune from noise. They will help and reduce the chances of doing so.
One cause of hearing loss is when blood flow is restricted to the ear. This usually occurs because of some form of illness. Magnesium can be utilised to help increase blood circulation, aiding in prevention and treatment. Although they can be taken as supplements, the above all should be present in a healthy balanced diet.
Another cause of hearing loss can be damaging the ear. Some times this isn’t predictable or preventable but caution should be taken where possible.
