What decibels can damage your hearing?

Hearing is a fragile sense that seems essential to us. However, in our everyday life, we ​​regularly damage our hearing cells. Often the factors of hearing loss are the natural aging of the ear, brain damage, or infections – However, the most common cause remains exposure to excessively loud noises.

This type of hearing loss due to noise exposure is called NIHL “Noise-Induced Hearing Loss.” Thus, it occurs after prolonged exposure to sounds that cause hearing fatigue or listening to sounds at too high a volume.

Our auditory system is made up of auditory cells that send electrical signals to the auditory nerve and allow us to hear. And these cells are distributed in the inner ear so as to perceive all frequencies (from the highest to the lowest sounds).

As a result, a lesion of these cells irreversibly damages your hearing and therefore the integration of certain frequencies, which produces a hearing loss.

Often the aging of the hearing called “Presbycusis” produces a slow disappearance of these hearing cells, but listening to loud sounds can also destroy these cells early.

Identify and avoid noise trauma:

A normal-hearing ear hears sounds ranging from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. But over time, the perception of high-pitched sounds in particular decreases. Thus, at the age of 16, the auditory spectrum becomes from 20 Hz to 16,000 Hz.

Also, as seen previously, the presence of sound trauma can instantly destroy part of this spectrum. Note that a conversation corresponds to an average volume of 60 decibels, at this level no hearing damage can be produced. However, exposure to a concert can reach 120 decibels and produce hearing damage quickly.

Thus, listening to low sounds does not risk damaging your hearing, unlike sounds above 80 decibels. To get a concrete idea, here are the sounds that with long listening can damage your hearing:

– Road traffic

– Air conditioning operating noise

– Restaurant or bar

– Sound of a hair dryer

– Engine of a motorcycle

– Sound toys for babies put in the ear

– Subway and train noise

– Put your music to the maximum in your headphones or headphones

On the other hand, here is the list of everyday sounds (110 to 180 decibels) that can damage your hearing even with a short sound exposure:

– Go to a concert

– The sound of thunder

– The siren of a vehicle

– The explosion of a balloon

– The detonation of a firecracker

– Activation of a car airbag

– Aircraft noise, especially during landing and take-off

How to avoid hearing loss?

Just like you wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from UV rays. Your hearing can be preserved by wearing hearing protection (ear plugs). To do this, ask an audio prosthetist who can offer you a hearing solution adapted to your needs. On the other hand, having better hearing hygiene can help preserve your hearing. Reducing the volume of music listening, for example, can help prevent hearing damage.

Also, if you have any doubts about your hearing abilities, do not hesitate to carry out a free complete hearing assessment in a hearing laboratory.