Sound is a form of physical energy. When sound energy becomes too intense, that sound energy can cause mechanical damage to an anatomy of the ear. The ear contain tiny hair cells in the cochlea that loud sounds can stress to there limit.
When loud sounds stress those hair cells in the cochlea to there limit, the result can be a ringing sensation in the ear of the individual. This ringing in the ears is a signal to the body that the hair cells in the cochlea needs a break from the sound energy in the environment. In order to protect your hearing, it is essential to understand how sound energy is measured on decibel scale.
How Loud Noise Damages Your Hearing and How to Protect It
The decibel scale is logarithmic, meaning it is not like a linear scale. On a linear scale, the number are directly related to the value of that scale. With the decibel scale, a small increase in decibels mean a large increase in sound energy.
For instance, a ten point increase in decibels mean that the sound is ten times louderer to the brain. Furthermore, a ten point increase in decibels mean there is a massive leap in the actual sound energy of that decibel measurement. The difference between the decibel measurements of a quiet library and a jet engine is only about one hundred decibel.
However, the sound energy of a jet engine is much more higher than that of a quiet library. Beyond the measurement of sound energy, it is important to also consider the length of time that one are exposed to loud noises. Hearing loss is cause by the long-term exposure to loud sounds.
Many people lose their hearing to loud sounds because their window of safe exposure to loud sounds shrink as the volume of the sound increase. For instance, a person can spend many hour in a restaurant with loud music without any hearing damage. However, a person may only be able to stand near a loud sound for a few minute before hearing damage begins.
Thus, people must be aware of the volume of the sounds that they is hearing. Another mistake that people make is to only use ear protection for loud sounds if they are feeling physical pain in their ears. The sensation of physical pain in the ears is a lag indicator; meaning, once a person feels the physical pain in their ears, damage to the hair cells in the cochlea have likely already occur.
Thus, people must be aware of the risk of loud sounds in their environment prior to the loud sounds starting to cause physical pain in their ears. For instance, when use a power drill or a blender, people should use some form of ear protection because these appliance can create loud sounds. The type of ear protection that a person use should depend on the environment in which they are using the ear protection.
For instance, one can purchase sound-reducing earplugs that has a Noise Reduction Rating indicating how much sound energy they will reduce. Foam earplugs may be used for individuals performing light DIY (do it yourself) home project. However, ear protection with heavier sound reduction may be needed for those performing heavy DIY projects.
Furthermore, individuals exposed to extreme amount of sound energy in their environment may want to use both earplugs and earmuffs to protect their hearing. Using both forms of protection is referred to as double protection, and those who wish to ensure that sound energy reaching their ears is reduced to a safe level should use double protection. Some of the appliance in the home can be very loud and lead to hearing loss over the course of a lifetime.
Appliances like hair dryer and garbage disposals are some of the loud appliance in the home. To reduce the sound energy in the home, one can purchase appliances with lower decibel ratings. Furthermore, the sound energy in the home can be measured with a meter or smartphone applications that measure decibel level in the environment.
Finally, one of the best way to reduce the sound energy that reaches the ears is to increase the distance between the individual from whom the sound energy is coming. Thus, if an individual increase the distance between themselves and the source of sound energy, less sound energy will enter the ear of that individual. Furthermore, doubling the distance between an individual and a source of loud sounds will significantly reduce the amount of sound energy that reaches the ears of that individual.
Thus, protecting one’s hearing is a process in which individuals must manage the amount of sound energy that enter their ears, because loud sounds do not allow the hair cells in the cochlea to grow back once they are destroyed.