THE FAMILY HEARING CENTER
FAMILY EDITION E-NEWSLETTER
One of the most common causes of preventable hearing loss is exposure to noise. Extremely loud sounds can damage our hearing nearly instantaneously, but even loud sounds that occur in our daily lives can be damaging with prolonged exposure.
How can you tell if you’re exposing yourself to something that is damaging your hearing? One convenient tool is decibel monitoring.

Though decibel monitors have existed for decades, the smartphone generation has recently put them in our pockets with health monitoring apps. When used correctly, these can dramatically change the way we interact with dangerous levels of sound.

Leading the pack is Apple’s Health app integration, which automatically nets data for you on both environmental sound and headphone audio levels, providing interactive graphs
and sound level classifications to dive into. These provide guidance on how you can stay in safe decibel ranges.

For the earbud generation, this is particularly helpful. The top volume on an iPhone is 102 dB. If someone listens to music at that volume for just 10 minutes, it can result in hearing loss. For the sake of comparison, that’s equivalent to the sound of a jet taking off, or a jackhammer.

Previously, people tended to gauge appropriate headphone volume by whether or not someone within arm’s reach could hear their music. Now, with an app full of rich data for people to self-check use and audio levels, our phones can help protect our hearing even when no one else is around.

In case this sounds like a young person’s problem, you should know that hearing loss from noise exposure doesn’t discriminate. Though it’s true that over a billion young people are at risk of hearing loss, chiefly from listening to music on headphones or earbuds1, the dangers are more widespread. With the advent of Apple’s top-line Air Pods, which are
popular with everyone from Generation Z high-schoolers to Boomer executives, this PSA applies to everyone.

While tools like decibel monitoring are valuable aids in maintaining healthy hearing, the old rules still apply. If you suspect you are hurting your hearing, or suspect something is too loud, you’re probably right. Do yourself a favor and turn down the volume.

If you are experiencing hearing damage or have questions about how to best protect your hearing, contact our experts at The Family Hearing Center at TLC at (301) 738-1415.

1. World Health Organization. (2019). Turn it down! Millennials’ music habit puts
their hearing at risk: U.N.. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/ushealth-
hearing/turn-it-down-millennials-music-habit-puts-their-hearing-at-risk-u-nidUSKCN1Q11TF
Three million children under 18 years old suffer from hearing loss, including nearly two of every one thousand newborn babies. In most cases, hearing issues aren’t discovered in kids until they are at least two-years-old.
The first two years of a child’s life are hugely important in physical development as well as in forming emotional, learning and communication skills. Because of this, babies with moderate to severe hearing loss often experience major developmental setbacks.

Infant hearing loss is very difficult to detect, which is why many cases go undiagnosed until the child reaches talking age.
Symptoms include:
• Not responding to their name.
• Not imitating sound.
• Not turning their head to the direction of your voice.
• Not babbling.

The best way to identify and treat hearing loss is to take your child to an audiologist for a hearing screening. Common hearing tests for babies and children include:

Auditory brainstem response (ABR) provides an audiologist with information on a child’s inner ear and the neuronal pathway that connects the ear to the brain. Electrodes are placed on the child’s head to record brain activity in response to sounds.

Otoacoustic emissions (OAE) testing uses a microphone and earphone to calculate an infant’s hearing abilities by measuring the reflection of a sound’s echo as it passes through the ear canal. Otoacoustic emissions are the sounds given off by the inner ear when stimulated by sound.

Tympanometry is a test of the middle ear used to detect fluid, wax buildup, eardrum perforations and tumors. It measures movement of the eardrum in response to air pressure; the results are recorded on a chart called a tympanogram.

Acoustic reflex tests measure involuntary muscle contractions of the middle ear and is used to determine the location of your hearing problem (the ossicles, cochlea, auditory nerve, etc.) as well as the type of hearing loss.

Take advantage of this opportunity to care for your child’s hearing health. Schedule a hearing evaluation today.
Although seemingly simple, hearing is actually quite complicated—a combination of outer, middle and inner parts of the ear working in harmony with other parts of your brain.

How Does Hand Cupping Help Improve Hearing?
Without getting too deep into the process, the purpose of the outer ear is to funnel soundwaves from your surroundings through your auditory system. Long before hearing aids were invented, people knew that by cupping their hands around their ears, even more soundwaves could be caught and then processed by the inner ear and brain.

Studies show that cupping your hands behind your ears can increase auditory input by up to 12 decibels. Even if cupping your hands doesn’t give you the volume you require, it’s usually a good indicator that your conversation partner should speak up.

How Is this Principle Applied to Hearing Aids?
The first device to help the hearing impaired was invented in the 17th century. This device was called an ear trumpet and applied the same principles as the structure of the outer ear and hand cupping. These trumpets came in a number of shapes and sizes and were made of everything from sheet iron to animal horns.

Next came collapsible ear trumpets in the late 18th century. In order to make these hearing devices invisible, inventor Frederick C. Rein popularized “acoustic headbands,” which hid the hearing devices within the user’s hair.

Hearing devices have come a long way since the ear trumpet; if you believe you may have hearing loss, schedule an evaluation today!
If you have kids, you’ve probably asked them to turn down their music because it’s too loud. Let’s face it, the apple rarely falls far from the tree; many of us have also enjoyed our share of loud music over the years, whether blasting Led Zeppelin, Jennifer Lopez or Garth
Brooks. The genre doesn’t matter so much as the fact that we LIKE IT LOUD!

If you’ve ever wondered why, a pair of University of Auckland researchers have some answers. David Welch and Guy Fremaux researched the issue by interviewing nightclub staff and patrons in Auckland and learned that, simply put, loud music is associated with
fun. Their theoretical model, called CAALM (Conditioning, Adaptation, Acculturation to Loud Music), helps explain this in more detail.

Conditioning refers to pairing loud music with having fun, to the extent that eventually the loud music itself elicits pleasure. Adaptation is the process of becoming acclimated to loud sounds, which at first might seem uncomfortably noisy, but we’ll soon learn to tolerate
them. Acculturation is our collective expectation that clubs, parties and similar events will inevitably play loud music.

CAALM also identifies four elements of loud music that stimulate us:
Music gets our attention and excites us; our auditory systems evolved to warn us of dangers, and our ears are connected to parts of the brain associated with arousal.

Loud sounds offer refuge from the outside world, acting as a sort of cocoon that allows us to drown out other sounds… and even our own thoughts, masking our anxieties.

Loud music transports us to a more carefree place.

Loud music offers us a new, stronger identity based on power and toughness. Think of the anger and masculinity inherent in a lot of rock and rap music.

It’s still important to protect your kids’ hearing, but now at least you’ll understand on a deeper level why they’re listening to loud music!
More and more research shows that treating hearing loss is essential for preserving mental health and prolonging cognitive functioning. But unlike other critically needed medical devices, hearing aids are not covered by most insurance companies.

That’s where you come in. The Help Others Hear Program, funded by the generosity of individuals like you, provides new hearing aids for people who could not otherwise afford them. For more information, email helpothershear@ttlc.org