Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona is among the first US hearing care professionals to offer Oticon Opn S™, a groundbreaking new hearing aid that allows people with hearing loss to experience speech understanding in difficult listening situations, such as restaurants or social gatherings, at the level of people with normal hearing.*

“Opn S hearing aids push the boundaries of what you can expect from a hearing aid to make a tremendous difference in how you hear and participate in life,” explains Dr. Rohe. “Ultra-fast sound processing opens up a rich, 360-degree world of sound so you can follow conversations in a group of people and focus on what’s important to you, even in noisy environments. And when you need extra help in especially noisy situations, Opn S lets you ‘boost’ the support you receive – whenever you feel you need it.”
 
This small, discreet hearing aid features Oticon’s exclusive BrainHearing™ technology to provide unprecedented access to the details of speech that helps the brain make sense of sound. People won’t have to work as hard to hear, so they’ll feel less stress and will be more likely to join in conversations.
 

This link between developing hearing loss and being a practicing professional musician held up after the statistics were adjusted by researchers so they were not skewed by gender or age.

It was noted by researchers that earlier studies had suggested that individuals exposed to music long-term had developed increased hearing sensitivity, like being able to hear an entire range of sound.

In a news release, the authors wrote that their data suggested that the risks of hearing loss induced by music in professional musicians outweighed their potential hearing ability benefits. They added that given the high number of practicing professional musicians and the outcome's severity, that can lead to occupational disability and a serious loss in quality of life, this group's hearing loss is of high importance to public health.  

So what steps can be taken to help to prevent hearing loss in musicians?  The research of the study suggested that hearing protection should be more widely used and concert hall designs should be developed to shield musicians away from the sounds they are producing.

Have you experienced any ringing in your ears after you have gone to a loud concert? Chris Martin, pianist and singer from the band Coldplay had some good advice: Make sure to wear hearing protection. He has tinnitus, which is a feeling of buzzing, hissing, clicking, roaring, or ringing inside your hears. Frequently this is caused by your ears being exposed to an excessive amount of loud noise.  

Were you aware that listening to music on personal players for extended amounts of time, at an excessive volume, may damage your hearing? Over time that damage can add up, and it is permanent damage. Protect your hearing today in order to continue to enjoy the music that you love.

Decibels are used for measuring sound. Your hearing may be damaged by any sounds at 85 decibels or higher. On mobile devices, the volume can sometimes go up to 105 decibels!

Use the following smart listening tips and protect your hearing:

Here at the Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona, located in Tempe, we offer custom fit musician earplugs. These are specially deigned earplugs to seal out the maximum level of sound, yet still have a flat frequency perception. It's like turning down the volume on everything! It's especially great for concerts, sports events, movie theaters, restaurants, band rehearsal, and more.

We also are considered the "Musician's Clinic" since we cater to so many musicians and their unique hearing needs. We are distributors for JH Audio and Sensaphonic in-ear monitors for stage use.

Read more about both at our website here: https://www.tinnitusaz.com/musicians-clinic.html

Contact us for a consultation, hearing tests, tinnitus treatment, hearing conditions, and much more. (480) 831-6159.

Our sight and hearing are the two primary ways that we get to enjoy everything around us. The many sounds we hear are, in most cases, at safe levels that do not damage our hearing. But there is a threshold to the levels of noise our hearing can accommodate; loud sounds can be very harmful. However, even some noises can have a similar effect, even though they are not as loud but are listened to over a longer period. The impact of such sounds can range from damages to parts of the inner ear, resulting in the poor hearing to problems that worsen over time leading to permanent noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).

Who Is Affected?

Hearing loss attributed to noise can happen to anyone. According to a national survey, 24% of American adults between the ages of 20 and 29 that have had their hearing tested will show signs of noise-induced hearing problems, including hearing loss.

How Do We Hear?

It is by understanding how we hear that we can comprehend how loud sounds can be damaging to our ears. The way our hearing is set up is through a complex system that changes the noises in the air into electrical signals that are transported by the auditory nerve to the brain so that we then understand what we hear.

Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) occurs when the stereocilia are damaged by loud sounds that happen over a sudden or last for too long. The stereocilia are tiny hair-like structures located on the top of hair cells in the inner ear. The damage causes these hair cells not to send signals to the brain about the sounds you hear - resulting in the hearing loss, which is permanent.

How Sound Is Measured

Sound is measured in decibels, and the units of measure start from zero which is at near total silence. It is the softest level of noise that the average young person can accommodate. A whisper is 30 decibels while the sound of a normal conversation is double that (around 60 decibels). If that level increases by 10 decibels then it is considered to be ten times more powerful. Comparatively, an ambulance siren noise is about 120 decibels which is a level that is a trillion times more intense than the softest sound that the ears can handle. That is why the ambulance sirens are painful to the ear when at close range, as is the case with any other types of noises that are of 120 decibels and above.

In short, the louder the noise, the shorter the time it would take for hearing loss to happen. The sound of a powered lawn mower is 90 decibels, while that of a firecracker can reach 150 decibels; thus the latter can damage your hearing more suddenly than the former.

Causes And Effects

Constant exposure to loud noises is likely to lead to hearing loss. For instance, a person subjected to loud sounds in a workshop or factory over a long period is at risk of developing hearing issues, including hearing loss.

Most of the activities we do every day put us at the risk of noise-inducing hearing loss. Such activities include:

Some of the cases of noise-induced hearing loss are short-lived. The hearing returns to normalcy for some people; often within 16-48 hours after the problem occurred. However, studies show that there may be some degree of long-term damage that took place even if it may not be detectable at the moment only to manifest later.

The hearing loss attributed to loud sounds does not always occur suddenly when exposure to such noises. It can build over time, and the signs go unnoticed. As the problem progress, the affected person may:

It is advisable to seek medical attention and have your hearing checked if you experience any of these signs.

Is The Condition Genetic?

While everyone is at risk of experiencing noise-induced hearing loss, some people are at a higher risk than others due to genetics. Every person has genes that they inherit from their parents. The genes are the elements that form the building blocks for who you are, and there are individuals inherently born with the risk of developing noise-induced hearing loss. Research is still ongoing to understand why this is and which genes are at the heart of it all.

Preventing Noise-Induced Hearing Loss

NIHL is preventable. You only need to invest in practical ways of protecting your hearing as you strive to enjoy listening to the sounds you love.  You can do this by:

What Can I Do Next?

If you suspect that you might have hearing loss due to long term exposure to noise, or even a short term blast, such as gunshots, fireworks, sirens, etc., there are two things that we recommend:

If you are looking for hearing testing in Scottsdale or the Phoenix metro, we encourage you to contact us for a hearing test appointment.

Click here to Call Us for an appointment, or schedule online here.

If you have hearing loss, and you’ve left it untreated, then it might be doing something to your overall mental health. It may even increase your need for medical care. The Scottsdale hearing aids center wants to make sure that everyone gets the hearing loss help they need.

Understanding Hearing LossIn a study that was published in the Journal of Public Health, using a survey that was conducted in the UK, it was shown that the relationship between hearing loss and health services, or overall well-being is important.  The study showed the evidence that is recently becoming available on the relationship between hearing impairment in individuals and a range of health-related outcomes dealing with depression, cognition and other aspects of mental health. Another thing the study looked into was whether or not those that have hearing loss sought out help more than those that did not suffer from any sort of hearing loss abilities.

Hearing Loss and Overall Health
While the study wasn’t able to determine that hearing loss increased the overall need for medical care, it did find other interesting facts linked to hearing loss that many of us may not have known.

Hearing loss was found to be linked to numerous health conditions and problems such as mobility, cognition, independence and memory. All of these issues can increase the need for further medical attention. Those that had hearing aids to correct the hearing loss issue were less known to have any health issues or problems relating to these areas.

Hearing loss currently affects around 16 percent of people throughout the United States, 19 percent in Canada and 17 percent in Britain. These are all percentages of adults that are suffering from hearing loss in these areas and not those born with hearing loss or are children living in the countries with the condition.

Hearing Aids Help with Cognitive Issues
It was found that over two-weeks, those that had hearing loss but were not having it treated, over 1,400 of them out of 8,000 were calling into the doctors for issues. Many of the cognitive issues that they called for or mental illness help they needed is most likely due to the fatigue and isolation issues they are having by not being able to properly communicate with others around them. It was found that if these individuals wore hearing aids, it would help address the issues that they are having.

While the study is not conclusive, it does help lead the way to understanding more about hearing loss and overall health. It is shown that those that do suffer from hearing loss should consider a hearing aid.

Finding a quality hearing aid company can help boost your overall health and well-being. Not only that, but it can ensure that you seek out less help when you have the properly fitting and working hearing aid that reduces the need for this sort of help. Your overall health should always come first when considering whether or not your hearing loss is affecting any part of your overall health.

​If you’re looking for an audiologist in Scottsdale Arizona or nearby, learn more at https://www.tinnitusaz.com/scottsdale.html.

Tinnitus and Hearing Center of Arizona, LLC
2034 E. Southern Avenue, Suite I
Tempe, AZ 85282
(480) 831-6159

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