Hearing Health Summer 2015 Issue Summer 2015 | Page 11

hearing health

exposure. Voluntary exposure is when people choose to
listen to music too loudly via ear buds or headphones, or
at a rock concert or motor sports event.
Involuntary exposure is when public spaces—such
as restaurants, stores, or malls— that don’t need to be
loud are. The public doesn’t have a choice in these noisy
places. Just as secondhand smoke endangers cardiac and
pulmonary health in nonsmokers, secondhand noise
causes auditory damage in those who prefer quiet.
In middle-aged and older adults, exposure to a lifetime of
loud noise can coexist with or even contribute to presbycusis
(age-related hearing loss) and other auditory problems, such
as tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and hyperacusis (sensitivity
to loud noise). For those who already have hearing loss,
conversation is made more difficult by loud environments.
For those with tinnitus or hyperacusis, loud sounds are
painful and may make dining, shopping, or spending time
in noisy environments unbearable.

Take Action

It’s too noisy to suffer in silence, but we don’t have to
suffer silently, either. The time to speak up is now. We
need to protect our hearing. We need to request—even
demand— ѡ