Everyday Habits That Cause Your Hearing Loss

Hearing loss can be lessened or prevented with early treatment and by avoiding common risk factors

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Our daily lives are filled with noise. From honking car horns and sirens to music on the radio and face-to-face conversation, our world is quite a noisy place. But many of us don’t think about how all that noise is affecting our hearing in the long run.

Nearly 14 percent of people aged 45 to 65 have some level of hearing loss. The number is probably higher, but many older people are either in denial or don’t get their hearing checked, which can be quite detrimental because hearing loss is an irreversible condition. Common reasons for delayed hearing loss treatment include the negative association and stigmatization of the use of hearing aids, the high cost of hearing aids, not being aware of hearing loss due to its gradual onset, and the lack of knowledge that hearing loss progression can be delayed with early treatment.

Noise is a large contributing factor to hearing loss, especially excessive noise. Excessive noise refers to being exposed to one-time noise over 120 decibels (the level of sound produced by a gunshot) or consistent or prolonged noise over 80 decibels (the sound of a passing motorcycle).

Noise Decibel Examples

110–140 decibels:

Rock concert Firecracker Nail gun Ambulance siren Chainsaw Stereo system at maximum volume