Hearing challenges are a problem you only have to deal with when you get old, right?

Though hearing loss from age deterioration, known as presbycusis, is the most common form of hearing loss, the second most common is noise-induced hearing loss, which can impact the lives of people in any age group.

Consider the following statistics published in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, reporting that approximately 12.5 percent of US children ages six to 19 already have some degree of noise-induced hearing loss. Worse yet, they are experiencing sensorineural hearing loss that is permanent.

Why is your child at risk of losing their hearing?

We often assume that noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) only occurs when a person is exposed to an explosion or extreme noise event. Though that is one way noise can damage your hearing, ongoing exposure to loud noise is actually the most common means of developing NIHL.

Because our team at Physicians Hearing Care are greatly concerned about the hearing health of our children throughout the communities we serve in East Tennessee, we want to shine a light on how hearing loss can become an issue for your child and how to prevent it.

Understanding Noise Damage

“Human ears weren’t made to handle excessively loud sounds most of the time,” says Brian Fligor, ScD, chair of the World Health Organization’s Make Listening Safe Taskforce.

“Our ancestors had to listen for tiny sounds—a crack of a branch in the woods, for example, or a bird call, indicators of prey they wanted to eat or predators that wanted to eat them,” Fligor continues. “It was rare to encounter anything loud enough to damage the ears, like 110 dBA or more.”

Unfortunately, in today’s environment, people are regularly exposed to sounds in the 110 decibels range, from motorcycles, chainsaws, concerts, and, worst of all, headphones and earbuds. That’s where modern hearing damage comes from.

“When the tiny hairs of the inner ear trigger the nerve cells to fire, those cells create a waste product,” Fligor explains. “It’s somewhat like your leg muscles building up lactic acid after a very long run.”

With quiet sounds, not much waste is produced. If the noise is loud but short, the cells can rest and clear out the waste. However, noises that are loud enough and long enough do not provide enough time for the cells to clear out the waste, which eventually kills the cell.

Volume + Duration = Damage

After just a few hours of exposure to noise even just a few decibels above 85 decibels (normal hearing level), your ear’s hearing-related cells can become overwhelmed with waste and die.

Your child may not show signs of damage now, but noise exposure could catch up with them later in life. In fact, one in five people aged 20–29 years have audiometric notches, or sections of their hearing frequency range that are damaged or missing due to noise exposure, according to the CDC.

Damage to hearing accumulates over time, so hazardous exposure that begins earlier in life has the potential to be more damaging as a person ages.

The Silent Epidemic

Technology has made it more convenient for children to listen to music, watch videos, and play games on personal devices using headphones or earbuds. Unfortunately, the volume being pushed directly into your child’s ears may be at damaging volume levels you are probably not aware of.

Apple Airpods max (the best-selling earphones on the market) produce a maximum volume of around 100 decibels—just 20 minutes of continuous noise at that level is enough to cause damage.

As parents, grandparents, and teachers, we all need to make a concerted effort to educate our youth on the importance of maintaining manageable volumes while ensuring that we are all monitoring our children’s hearing health.

Is Your Child at Risk for NIHL?

Being a parent has been described as “wearing your heart on the outside,” and it’s unbelievably true. Nothing is more important and more fragile than the health of our children, so if you’re concerned about your child’s hearing, then it can be a very concerning situation.

Our natural behavioral pattern as parents is to catastrophize and think the worst, but there are several reasons outside of hearing loss that your child may not be engaging, responding, or listening.

If you’re concerned about your child’s hearing, come in to consult with one of our audiologists so that we can explore the issue further and discuss options.

With testing in a comfortable, friendly environment and a noninvasive approach, we can help whether you have a young child or a teenager.

Click the following link to schedule a hearing assessment or call us at the PHC clinic nearest you:

The Tower at Park West: (865) 693-6065 ext. 125
Fort Sanders Professional Bldg.: (865) 693-6065 ext. 280
Lenoir City: (865) 292-3560
Morristown: (423) 585-7438
Tellico Village: (865) 693-6065 ext. 270

Schedule a Hearing Assessment

Do you know somebody that needs to see this? Why not share it?

Dr. Teresa Russell, Au.D., CCC-A

As a doctor of audiology at Physicians Hearing Care, Teresa assists the amazing patients at PHC with hearing aid repairs and regular check-ups, and she also monitors their hearing loss through comprehensive testing. Additionally, she assists people with a hearing loss in choosing the best amplification option for them. Teresa’s average day contains lots of problem solving, troubleshooting, and assisting people with their various devices. Teresa loves the incredible staff and patients and finds joy in doing what she loves.