Listen up! Noise is one of the most common causes of hearing loss and one of the most common occupational illnesses in the United States. According to the Better Hearing Institute, 10 million Americans have suffered irreversible hearing damage resulting from noise, and more than 30 million are exposed to hazardous noise levels every day. Often, the risk and damage that noise can cause for one’s hearing is underestimated because most hearing loss from noise takes place gradually. However, even a single shotgun blast experienced at close range can damage hearing permanently in an instant.

How Does Noise Kill My Hearing?

To understand how too much noise can affect your hearing, it’s important first to have a basic understanding of how hearing happens. As explained by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association:

The ear is divided into three parts that lead into the brain: the outer ear, middle ear and inner ear. The outer ear, which consists of the ear canal and eardrum, “gathers” sound down the canal, striking the eardrum, which vibrates. Behind the eardrum is the middle ear, which contains three small bones, called ossicles. The vibration of the eardrum causes these bones to vibrate, which in turn creates fluid movement in the inner ear. This fluid movement in the inner ear, called the cochlea, causes changes in tiny hair cells, which send electric signals into the auditory nerve in the brain, where they are interpreted as sounds.

Excessive noise exposure over time damages the delicate hair cells in the cochlea, accelerating the ear's aging process. This damage causes permanent, sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus, or ringing ears. While hearing loss can happen because of hazardous noise exposure on the job, it also can happen because of common recreational activities. To prevent hearing loss, one must minimize hazardous exposure to noise.