hearing health Tag

myths and facts about hearing loss

5 Myths About Your Hearing

5 Myths about Hearing  Hearing can be a bit of a mystery. It’s one of those senses we don’t think about too much until we can’t hear well. There are learning more every year about our ears through ongoing research. So here are a few myths about hearing and their facts that you maybe didn’t know! 1) Myth: If I had a hearing loss I would know Fact: The Canadian Health Measures Survey in 2015 found that most Canadians with hearing loss were unaware of it. In most cases, hearing loss happens gradually. This means we may not notice any changes until it becomes difficult to understand a conversation, to hear the TV, or we find ourselves saying “pardon” more times than we can count. This may also be why we associate hearing loss with getting ‘older’. We just don’t notice it till then! Including a hearing test in your overall health routine can keep you informed and your ears healthy. 2) Myth: My hearing only affects me Fact: In one way this is true, hearing loss is a personal thing, but it doesn’t just affect you. Have you ever considered how it might affect your co-workers, friends, and loved ones? How many times do your co-workers have to repeat things for you? Or imagine how it feels to not be heard by someone you love. Everyone around you needs and wants to communicate with you. As humans, we are social creatures and need to be in a community. Hearing loss...

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Love your ears

8 Tips for Better Hearing Health in 2020

As we head into a new year, I'm sure you're thinking about some new year's resolutions. Is your hearing health part of that? Good hearing health is more than just having your hearing tested... eventually. Here are 8 tips for better hearing health to keep your ears happy and healthy in 2020. #1 Wear hearing protection in noisy environments (concerts, working with machinery or power tools, etc.) Any noise over 80dB can damage your ears depending on how long you're exposed to it. The best rule of thumb is if it's loud, use protection. The foam earplugs you can get from the drug store work great. For more information about what sounds are loud and why noise affects our hearing check out our blog 'How Loud is too Loud.' #2 Have your ear wax removed professionally; no Q-tips! Q-tips can cause more harm than good; they dry out your ear canals and can push the wax further into your ear. It's best to have a professional take a look at them or try using natural oil drops at home to help push the wax out naturally. #3 When using headphones, keep the volume below 60% Similar to noisy environments, when we wear headphones we should use caution as well. As the sound is being directly streamed into our ear it can easily become too loud and tire out our ears. 60% or less of your volume will keep you hearing clear without causing any damage to your ears. #4 Get moving...

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TED Audiogram

Understanding my Audiogram

How to Understand Your Audiogram   You’ve made an appointment to have your hearing tested. The Audiologist or Hearing Instrument Practitioner puts you in this booth, you hear a whole bunch of beeping sounds and then… they hand you this piece of paper with some X’s and O’s (when did this become a game of tic-tac-toe!). Welcome to your audiogram, which is a fancy term for the graph we use to record your hearing levels. So what do all these lines and symbols mean?   Lines and Symbols At the top of the graph is the frequency (Hz) of sound or the pitch. As the frequencies go from left to right they go from low to high pitch. Vertically on the left side are decibels (dB), the intensity or the volume of the sound. As the decibel number gets bigger so does the volume and potential hearing loss. During your hearing test, we go through each pitch at different volumes to determine the softest sound you can hear. This is where the X’s and O’s come in! We mark the quietest sound you can hear for each frequency: X’s for the left ear and O’s for the right. This gives us a visual representation of where your hearing is. Another way to think about it - Every sound, including speech [the speech banana as it’s called], is made at a particular pitch and volume. A lawnmower is rather loud at 100dB and has a low-frequency sound. The human voice can range...

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How Loud is Too Loud?

So... how loud is too loud? Did you know that the human ear can hear over 20,000 different frequencies! These range in pitch and volume from the faintest high pitch buzz of a mosquito to the loudest rock concert you’ve ever heard.  In terms of volume, this means the human ear can hear sounds from 0 decibels (dB) to over 140dB and everything in between. That’s like hearing a pin drop (10dB) or rustling leaves (10-20dB), all the way up to a motorcycle (100dB) or a jet engine (140dB). So how loud is too loud? Noise-Induced Hearing Loss is one of the most common causes of hearing loss. The World Health Organization reports nearly 24% of adults (1 out of 4) between the ages of 20 to 69 have this kind of hearing loss. And it all comes down to how loud and for how long a person is exposed to noise.  According to the Canadian Hearing Society and the new Ontario Works standards, any sound over 85dB for an extended period of time unprotected is NOT safe. If you've worked in noise around or over these levels causing damage to your ears, you may be eligible for WSIB covered hearing aids.  The louder the sound gets, the less time you have before damage to your hearing is inevitable.  Damage to your ears can occur at: 75dB of continual exposure for 24 hours or more 85dB for 8 hours or more 90dB for 2 hours 95dB for 1 hour or more...

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