When you were 16 and turned up the radio to full volume, you had little thought about how this might damage your health. You simply enjoyed the music.
You had a good time when you were growing up, going to loud concerts and movies. You could have even chosen a job where loud noise is the norm. Still, you didn’t think it had any lasting impact.
Now that you’re older and more mature, you more likely know better. Children as young as 12 can have lasting noise-induced hearing impairment. But sound is so powerful it can even be used as a weapon.
Can Sound Make You Ill?
In short, yes. Certain sounds can evidently cause you to get sick according to scientists and doctors. This is why.
How Health is Affected by Loud Noise
The inner ear can be harmed by extremely loud sounds. You have little hairs that pick up +
vibrations after they go through the membrane of the eardrum. Once these tiny hairs are damaged, they don’t ever heal or regenerate. This is what causes the sensorineural hearing loss that many people deal with as they age.
Dangerous volume begins at 85 decibels for an 8 hour time frame. It only takes 15 minutes for long-term damage to develop at 100 dB. At 120 dB, the volume of a rock concert, instantaneous, lasting impairment will happen.
Cardiovascular wellness can also be impacted by noise. Subjection to loud noise can boost stress hormones, which can lead to clogged arteries, obesity, high blood pressure, and more. This might explain the headaches and memory problems that people subjected to loud noise complain about. Cardiovascular health is strongly connected to these symptoms.
Actually, one study revealed that sound volumes that start to impact the heart, and hormones are as low a 45 decibels. That’s around the volume of someone with a quiet indoor voice.
Your Health is Impacted by Certain Sound Frequencies – This is How
Several years ago, diplomats in Cuba got sick when subjected to sounds. The sound in Cuba wasn’t that loud. It could even be blocked out by a television. How could it have made people sick?
The answer is frequency.
High frequency sounds like the one experienced in Cuba can do significant damage at lower volumes.
Does the sound of nails on a chalkboard make you cringe? Have you ever pleaded with a co-worker to stop as they run their fingers across a folded piece of paper? Have you ever had to cover your ears during a violin recital?
If you’ve felt the power of high-pitched sounds, the pain you felt was actually damage being done to your hearing. If you experienced this for a time, frequently subjected yourself to it, or were exposed at a high volume, then the damage might have become irreversible.
Research has also revealed that damage can happen even if you can’t hear the sound. High-frequency sounds emanating from sensors, trains, machinery, and other man-made devices might be producing frequencies that do damage with prolonged exposure.
Your health can also be impacted by infrasound which is very low frequency sound. The vibrations can make you feel disoriented and physically sick. Some individuals even experience migraine symptoms such as flashes of light and color.
How You Can Safeguard Your Hearing
Know how certain sounds make you feel. If you’re feeling pain or other symptoms when you’re exposed to specific sounds, limit your exposure. If you’re feeling pain in your ears, you’re probably doing damage.
Have your hearing examined regularly by a hearing specialist to understand how your hearing could be changing over time.