jcx said:
That's nonsense -- from the age of approximately 40 onwards there is a gradual reduction in sensitivity, especially for higher frequencies. Women suffer less than men, and of course the problem can be made much worse as a result of abuse.
But to say there is no 'age related' hearing loss up to 60+ years -sorry, just not true.
Everyone seems to be lending their advice, so I thought I would chuck in mine.
This may be due to loud noises, but before you freak out about hearing loss, go to you doctor and get them to clean your ears. My doctor did this for me a few weeks ago when I had a cold and I made a huge difference. He got a massive (250ml or so) syringe with a small rubber pipe on the end, stuck it in my ear and flushed them out with warm water. A massive wax plug came out of each ear a good centimetre long!
This made a huge difference (once my ears dried out). I could hear clothes rustling, a keyboard sounded 'vibrant' (I know this is a weird way of describing this be it's true) and the 'pish' of cymbals.
If this doesn't do anything, go see an Audiologist (I think that's what they're called), and think about seeing them annually, to see the difference over time. Just a thought.
Also, I don't remember who said it, but it is not (normally) due to hearing damage that people 25 and over cannot hear that mosquito ringtone and anything over 15000Hz or 16000Hz, It's just natural, gradual hearing loss. My 21 year old brother, who never listens to loud music, cannot hear over 15000Hz.
And to rogs and jcx and such, your hearing starts diminishing (albeit very slowly) from the word go.
Those earbuds could be helpful to. I always have a pair of foam buds in my wallet, don't use them much though. I've also seen some called Hearos, they sell ones which reduce noise evenly over the spectrum. They're small and skin-colored too, so you can barely see them.
I'll hope for the best.
This may be due to loud noises, but before you freak out about hearing loss, go to you doctor and get them to clean your ears. My doctor did this for me a few weeks ago when I had a cold and I made a huge difference. He got a massive (250ml or so) syringe with a small rubber pipe on the end, stuck it in my ear and flushed them out with warm water. A massive wax plug came out of each ear a good centimetre long!
This made a huge difference (once my ears dried out). I could hear clothes rustling, a keyboard sounded 'vibrant' (I know this is a weird way of describing this be it's true) and the 'pish' of cymbals.
If this doesn't do anything, go see an Audiologist (I think that's what they're called), and think about seeing them annually, to see the difference over time. Just a thought.
Also, I don't remember who said it, but it is not (normally) due to hearing damage that people 25 and over cannot hear that mosquito ringtone and anything over 15000Hz or 16000Hz, It's just natural, gradual hearing loss. My 21 year old brother, who never listens to loud music, cannot hear over 15000Hz.
And to rogs and jcx and such, your hearing starts diminishing (albeit very slowly) from the word go.
Those earbuds could be helpful to. I always have a pair of foam buds in my wallet, don't use them much though. I've also seen some called Hearos, they sell ones which reduce noise evenly over the spectrum. They're small and skin-colored too, so you can barely see them.
I'll hope for the best.
just relaying what I thought Mead was saying - he is Etymotics founder and Phd researcher in hearing loss field
his claim is, I believe, that hearing loss in modern industrial society is mostly related to damage due to exposure to too much noise
Simple age/hearing loss plots of said populations begs the question - if they are generally exposed to damaging levels of sound which are just accepted as "normal" in today's world
The point of whether there is a underlying age related loss in hearing could only be established in tests of unusual populations with little noise exposure - I presume his comments are informed by such studies?
I too would expect some "natural" loss as many functions decline with aging which makes Mead Killian's claim more interesting - perhaps there were qualifications to his claim I didn't remember/understand but I'm sure it was meant to be provocative
his claim is, I believe, that hearing loss in modern industrial society is mostly related to damage due to exposure to too much noise
Simple age/hearing loss plots of said populations begs the question - if they are generally exposed to damaging levels of sound which are just accepted as "normal" in today's world
The point of whether there is a underlying age related loss in hearing could only be established in tests of unusual populations with little noise exposure - I presume his comments are informed by such studies?
I too would expect some "natural" loss as many functions decline with aging which makes Mead Killian's claim more interesting - perhaps there were qualifications to his claim I didn't remember/understand but I'm sure it was meant to be provocative
I'm sure that Dr. Killian and his Etymotic Research team are very highly regarded within the audio community, and do indeed seem to present the appropriate credentials to have their conclusions taken seriously.
Which is why I find it extraodinary that he would have put his name to a comment that apparently dismisses the hereditary causes of presbycusis, for example, and attributes all age related hearing loss, in the under sixties, to 'avoidable abuse'.
As you say, there are probably additional qualifications to the original statement.
Which is why I find it extraodinary that he would have put his name to a comment that apparently dismisses the hereditary causes of presbycusis, for example, and attributes all age related hearing loss, in the under sixties, to 'avoidable abuse'.
As you say, there are probably additional qualifications to the original statement.
As you reach the age of about 20 or so, as a human male, the wax build up really starts to get moving. It is very likely to be a wax plug.
When listening to loud noise or sound, the damage is occuring but takes up to 5 years to reach it's full damge potential. What I mean, is damage your hearing today, 99% of it will come back, but it will slowly increase in noticablility of that original damage 'point' (point in time when the loud noises were heard)..until the maxiumum levl of damage that your ears will recieve from that one event. This point is 5 years down the road from the original point of damage.
What you do to your ears today, will not be fully realized for up to 5 years, is the whole point. By the time you realize your hearng is degraded, it is seriously, FAR TOO LATE.
I'm 41, goin' on 42, and at my last self check, could still hear 18khz. At a slightly elevated level compared to the rest of the specturm, mind you, but 18k nonetheless.
I'd vote for a wax buildup as being the heart of the issue. You are at the age where they begin to be a NORMAL OCCURANCE, as a male of the species.
PS, our ears seem to, according to some of the reading I've done..reflexively build up wax as a form of protection! Yep, some studies or at least one I came across, somewhere... indicated that the ear can build up wax as a form of protection, as a reaction to long term noise as an issue. One does not know that this is true or not, but dismissing such based on the human frailty of simple disbelief is foolish, even though we are prone to such insanity. Take it for what it is worth.
When listening to loud noise or sound, the damage is occuring but takes up to 5 years to reach it's full damge potential. What I mean, is damage your hearing today, 99% of it will come back, but it will slowly increase in noticablility of that original damage 'point' (point in time when the loud noises were heard)..until the maxiumum levl of damage that your ears will recieve from that one event. This point is 5 years down the road from the original point of damage.
What you do to your ears today, will not be fully realized for up to 5 years, is the whole point. By the time you realize your hearng is degraded, it is seriously, FAR TOO LATE.
I'm 41, goin' on 42, and at my last self check, could still hear 18khz. At a slightly elevated level compared to the rest of the specturm, mind you, but 18k nonetheless.
I'd vote for a wax buildup as being the heart of the issue. You are at the age where they begin to be a NORMAL OCCURANCE, as a male of the species.
PS, our ears seem to, according to some of the reading I've done..reflexively build up wax as a form of protection! Yep, some studies or at least one I came across, somewhere... indicated that the ear can build up wax as a form of protection, as a reaction to long term noise as an issue. One does not know that this is true or not, but dismissing such based on the human frailty of simple disbelief is foolish, even though we are prone to such insanity. Take it for what it is worth.
The ear is a complex organ.
It has been said that the ear of a healthy newborn can theoretically hear a mosquito through a pane of glass. But we all don't start with the same sensitivity.
There are many things that can cause apparent hearing loss. Wax buildup is a simple reason. Fluid buildup from chronic infection and/or blocked eustachian tubes is common and these can lead to permanent hearing loss if not treated.
As the theory goes, our hearing accumulates damage due to loud noises around us, men are more likely to suffer this loss early due to stereotypically male pursuits being louder in general than female pursuits. Reportedly, older men in primitive civilizations, far from machines can hear high frequencies better than urban people, and the difference between the sexes in those primitive civilisations is less if not nil. This tends to reinforce the statement that hearing loss is cumulative and caused by loud sounds.
It has been said that the ear of a healthy newborn can theoretically hear a mosquito through a pane of glass. But we all don't start with the same sensitivity.
There are many things that can cause apparent hearing loss. Wax buildup is a simple reason. Fluid buildup from chronic infection and/or blocked eustachian tubes is common and these can lead to permanent hearing loss if not treated.
As the theory goes, our hearing accumulates damage due to loud noises around us, men are more likely to suffer this loss early due to stereotypically male pursuits being louder in general than female pursuits. Reportedly, older men in primitive civilizations, far from machines can hear high frequencies better than urban people, and the difference between the sexes in those primitive civilisations is less if not nil. This tends to reinforce the statement that hearing loss is cumulative and caused by loud sounds.
Relay the message
Everybody, you need to relay the message about this hearing damage thing, because there are normal school kids going around blasting their headphones so loud that you can hear them across the hall. the next generation is going to have horrible hearing and their going to wreck it for the generation after that which will be cursed with bad music just because the composers have bad hearing! bad, huh? It is good that some people have realized the damaging effects of today's society. blasting your headphones like that is just like doing this, infact:
Headbanging is fun but you don't have to lose hearing over it,
so RELAY THE MESSAGE! Don't blast your headphones!
Everybody, you need to relay the message about this hearing damage thing, because there are normal school kids going around blasting their headphones so loud that you can hear them across the hall. the next generation is going to have horrible hearing and their going to wreck it for the generation after that which will be cursed with bad music just because the composers have bad hearing! bad, huh? It is good that some people have realized the damaging effects of today's society. blasting your headphones like that is just like doing this, infact:
Headbanging is fun but you don't have to lose hearing over it,
so RELAY THE MESSAGE! Don't blast your headphones!
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