Deafness due to noise: symptoms, causes and treatment

NIHL (noise-induced hearing loss) or noise-induced deafness is hearing loss when your ears are not functioning properly due to hearing sounds that are too loud. This condition usually occurs in both ears at once. One of the symptoms caused by NIHL is tinnitus. Furthermore, consider the following explanation about NIHL.

What is NIHL?

NIHL (noise-induced hearing loss) or noise-induced deafness is hearing loss due to damage to sensitive structures in the ear. A sound that is too loud, even if it is heard for a short time, can cause this condition.

NIHL can occur immediately after listening to a sound that is too loud, but it can occur over time. Deafness from noise can be permanent or temporary, and it can affect one or both of your ears at the same time.

When you experience this condition, you may not immediately notice it. However, after a few days, you may feel like you can't understand what other people are saying, especially in a noisy room.

Exposure to harmful noise can occur at all ages, from children, adolescents, to the elderly. Therefore, NIHL is a condition that can happen to everyone, regardless of their age.

What are the symptoms of NIHL?

Deafness due to noise usually occurs in both ears. However, hearing loss may not always occur simultaneously between the left and right ear when the condition affects only one side of the head.

A common symptom of deafness due to noise is hearing loss which may originate from difficulty hearing high frequency sounds and gradually results in hearing loss in low frequency sounds.

Quoted from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, continuous exposure to loud sounds can cause temporary hearing loss for 16 to 48 hours. However, even though hearing loss is temporary, the damage to hearing persists in the long term.

Noise deafness may also result in tinnitus, an ear disorder when you hear a buzzing sound in the ear. If you have tinnitus, you may experience the following symptoms:

• Mood swings such as feeling irritated, annoyed, depressed, anxious, or often angry
• Disturbed sleep
• It's hard to focus

People with mild to moderate tinnitus are most often aware of this symptom when they are in a quiet environment. Tinnitus can be caused by drug use, changes in blood vessels, or other factors.

However, it is often the first cause of acoustic trauma when it is caused by exposure to loud sounds. If you have long-term tinnitus, this can be a sign of acoustic trauma that can lead to NIHL.

What causes NIHL?

NIHL is usually caused by acoustic trauma, which is an injury to the inner ear often caused by hearing sounds at high decibels. This injury can occur after you have heard very loud sounds or sounds that are lower decibels for an extended period of time.

Recreational activities can also cause noise-induced deafness. Examples of these activities are:

• Shoot
• Drive a snowmobile
• Listening to music with earphones or headphones
• Play music in a band
• Attend concerts out loud
• Using lawn mowers, leaf blowers and tools for work

In addition, some cases of head injury can also cause acoustic trauma, if the eardrum ruptures or if other injuries to the inner ear occur. The eardrum protects the middle ear and inner ear. In the process of hearing, this part of the ear also sends signals to the brain through small vibrations.

Now, a person with hearing loss will not be able to get these vibrations, eventually he will not hear a sound at all. Loud sound will be received by the ear in the form of sound waves, which then vibrate the eardrum and can disrupt the delicate hearing system. It can also cause the small bones in the middle ear to shift or shift the threshold (threshold shift).

In addition, loud noises that reach the inner ear can also damage the hair cells that line them. As a result, the hair cells are damaged and are unable to send sound signals to the brain. This can lead to hearing loss.

What increases the risk of noise-induced deafness?

Factors that can increase your risk of developing NIHL are:

• Work in a place that uses firearms or hard industrial equipment, which operates for a long period of time.
• Be in an environment where high decibel sounds continue for a long period of time.
• Often attend music concerts and other events with high decibel music / often listen to music at maximum volume
• Exposure to very loud sounds without proper equipment or protection, such as ear plugs.

A person who frequently hears sounds whose decibels are greater than 85 decibels also has an increased risk for acoustic trauma and NIHL.

Generally, doctors will give you an estimate of the decibel range of normal daily sounds, such as about 90 decibels for a small machine. This is done to help you judge whether the voices you encounter put you at a higher risk of developing NIHL or not.

How to solve NIHL?

The following are treatment options for treating NIHL:

1. Hearing aids

Hearing loss is treatable but not curable. Your doctor may recommend technology assistance for your hearing loss condition, such as hearing aids.

A new type of hearing aid called a cochlear implant is also available to help you deal with hearing loss caused by acoustic trauma.

2. Ear protection

Your doctor will likely recommend using earplugs and other types of devices to protect your hearing. This is part of the personal protective equipment that employers should provide to someone working in a workplace with exposure to loud noise.

3. Medicines

Your doctor may also prescribe an oral steroid medication. However, if you have hearing loss, your doctor will emphasize ear protection to prevent the condition from getting worse.

How to prevent noise-induced deafness?

NIHL is a hearing loss that you can prevent. If you understand the dangers of noise and avoid the various risks from this disease, you can protect your hearing. Here's how to prevent NIHL:

• Know which sounds can cause damage (at or above 85 decibels).
• Use earplugs, such as ear plugs or other protective devices, when engaged in vigorous activity (special ear plugs, these earmuffs are available at hardware and sporting goods stores).
• If you can't reduce the noise or protect yourself from it, stay away.
• Beware of dangerous sounds in the environment.

If you suspect your hearing is starting to lose, get a medical exam by an otolaryngologist (a doctor who specializes in ear, nose, throat, head and neck diseases) and a hearing test by an audiologist (a health professional trained to measure and help people deal with hearing loss).