October is Protect Your Hearing Month

Just informed that October is Protect Your Hearing Month. As somebody who makes a living, in no small part, with my ears, I've always been hypersensitive to the way I treat them. The years of loud concert have take a slight toll, but nothing more than a little loss in the high end, yet I still rate with better than average hearing.

A dear friend a few years ago now interviewed Pete Townshend, guitar player for The Who. Pete is know to suffer hearing loss. Heck, he was on stage for the loudest concert ever recorded - Live at Leeds. But as Pete explained in the conversation, it was never the live shows that did his hearing in. As he put it - It's the headphones in the recording studio and a little too much wine to blame.

As Pete said further: At the end of the day they would open a few bottles of wine to listen back to the days work. As you might expect, another glass of wine, let's listen to it again - and turn it up (repeat a few times) and a few hours later the volume is well above what is recommended.

Watch the levels on your earbuds! (And put the wine away!!)

(Information provided by Hearing Aid Institute)
Approximately 36 million Americans suffer from hearing loss.
More than half of the people with hearing loss are younger than age 65.
Hearing loss is the third most common health problem in the United States.

What causes hearing loss?
Exposure to excessive loud noise. Ear infections, trauma, or ear disease.
Damage to the inner ear and ear drum from contact with a foreign object (cotton swabs, bobby pins, etc.)
Illness or certain medications.
Deteriorating hearing due to the normal aging process

How to protect your hearing:
Wear hearing protection when around sounds louder than 85 dB for a long period of time.
There are different types of hearing protection such as foam earplugs, earmuffs and
custom hearing protection devices.
Contact your local hearing provider  for custom hearing protection devices.
Turn down the volume when listening to the radio, the TV, MP3 player,
or anything through ear buds and headphones.
Walk away from the noise.  And, other than hearing protection, do not put anything in your ear!