An estimated 700 million people worldwide are living with hearing loss, a third of which is preventable.
Most cases of deafness are caused by damage to the tiny hair cells in the inner ear. Damage that’s caused by too much noise is permanent, but the good news is that you can take simple steps to prevent it. In the past, working in noisy environments has been a key factor in noise-related hearing loss.
But as conditions have improved to protect our hearing at work, these days it’s more likely to be damaged recreationally – listening to music on our iPods, in confined spaces like our cars or in noisy places like pubs, gigs or clubs. If you’re exposed to loud noises over a long period of time, you could be damaging your hearing without even realising it.
That’s because while the ringing in your ears might have stopped the next day, you may not feel the long term damage each exposure brings.