In case you thought you didn’t, having a hearing support group is important. Great article here on hearing support groups. Support groups can offer many benefits to those with hearing loss. The article covers the top 4 reasons you might want a hearing support group.
You find a community of peers going through the same thing
Help you stay up to date with hearing technology. Hear word of mouth on the latest rom your peer group
Meet experts. Speakers from industry and providers will attend, very often with excellent insights
Social. A place to make friends and meet people with similar ailments.
Meeting and joining a support group is not strange, depressing or awkward but a great opportunity to meet others with hearing loss and a place to share experiences and learnings, both good and bad. Not sure where to start. Let us know if you know of any support groups to share.
Hopefully it will never come to this in Australia but for those of you who have been following the FIFA World Cup in Australia you would be familiar with the vuvuzela.
The following safety first hearing pamphlet is an example of a warning being used to warn people of the risk and potential of vuvuzela Noise levels. Click the previous link to download the PDF document.
This thing is apparently louder than a live rock & roll band or a bulldozer. Who would have thought?
AudioClinic is an Australian Hearing Care business with over 180 clinics across Australia, and is also 1 of the leading hearing care providers in this fine country of ours. You can find all of AudioClinic’s hearing centre’s listed within the Freehearingtest Directory. What we like about AudioClinic are the resources available on their website. We recommend signing up to get more hearing information:
The Australian Guide to Hearing Services can be obtained here. The guide has been carefully put together to give you information on the range of hearing related treatments available and the financial assistance available for those suffering from hearing loss. The booklet is free and available on the AudioClinic website by clicking on the link above.
You can also sign up for the Hearing Sense Magazine which is also free and will be sent to you by completing some details at the link above. The Hearing Sense magazine includes articles and editorials contributed by AudioClinic hearing care clinicians around Australia
Finally you can stay up to date by subscribing to the AudioClinic newsletter here. If you or a member of your family suffers from hearing loss, this is great way to get the latest news on hearing health delivered to your inbox.
These resources are all free and good way to get more information, educate yourself and stay up to date on hearing health matters.You can read more about AudioClinic and what they do by clicking here.
A new hearing study that was done by Ghent University in Belgium has found that listening to even 1 hour of music on personal music players like the Apple iPod can cause long term hearing loss. According to the study, this is because your hearing has a temporary change in sensitivity making you think the music isn’t as loud as what it actually is.
The study involved two groups of people of similar age where one group was exposed to varying volumes of rock and pop music for periods of at least an hour. The second control group, did not listen to music at all during the study. Both groups underwent hearing tests before and after the study in which the group exposed to the music was found to show signs of hearing loss.
Research shows that a significant number of people who use personal music devices, tend to have the volume too loud reaching more than 85db which is loud enough over time to cause permanent hearing loss. This is a real concern considering the huge demand of these devices particularly in younger generations.
We don’t mean to be the fun police, but if you are in South Africa visiting the Soccer World Cup, think about this.
Until now you probably didn’t know what a Vuvuzela was, is, or even cared. Well if you are in a stadium filled with thousands of Vuvuzela wielding soccer fans you might reconsider. Per Wikipedia the Vuvuzela is what is known as a stadium horn.. About 1m long it is blown by fellow soccer fans, usually regardless of how their team is performing. To blow one, requires some special lip and lung work but is not that hard to work out and blows a very very loud monotone.
They have been associated with permanent noise induced hearing loss and are considered a safety risk, not only to your ears but also to your underwear if you were not expecting it, and your general health and well-being, as a result of all the germs blown out through the front, on a much greater scale than just coughing, snorting or or shouting.
The sound has been compared to a stampede of noisy elephants, a swarm of angry locusts, or a goat on the way to slaughter. Those without the skill required to blow the vuvuzela have rather been compared to a sick farting elephant. None the less, none of these noises are common in Australia, so in case you were wondering, this German video tells the story quickly:
The sound evel of this instrument is a deafening 131 dB(A) when it goes off right next to your ear and a still impressive 113dB(A) 2 metres in front. These are dangerous and deafening to unprotected ears and in certain cases your underwear. Sorry, had to make that point again. Many soccer fans take a spare pair to the second game.
So if you or your loved ones are in South Africa at the World Cup, suggest they wear ear protection to the game to avoid ear damage from the stadium horn or Vuvuzela.
New research indicates there is a link between Viagra use and Hearing Loss. What? I hear you say! I’m also guessing if you’ve taken Viagra you are probably not going to be thinking about much else or listening to anything anyone has to say. Seriously though,research by a University of Alabama at Birmingham professor has shown the association between hearing loss and the use of Viagra, the erectile dysfunction drug. Before you panic, read more.
Be aware, the results from this research are inconclusive, but findings from the research which have been published on 18th May this year show the potential for long term hearing loss following the use of Viagra and also possibly Cialis and Levitra, both phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors. There were however limitations to the study. Nevertheless, the University believe users should be aware of the potential risks.
Over 11,525 men were examined over 40 years. We didn’t know Viagra had even been around that long. Anyway, the mens medical data was examined by a panel set up by the Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality between 2003 and 2006. Men who had used phosphodiesterase type 5 medications were twice as likely to experience and report some level of hearing loss as the were men who had not used the drugs, and the strongest relationship, excuse the pun was with those who had used Viagra. It should be noted that the study was limited by the fact that other pre existing medical conditions might also have contributed to the hearing loss conditions reported.
Access economics did a report on the cost and impact of hearing loss in Australia. The report was commissioned by CRC HEAR and Victorian Deaf Society to try and qualify the impacts and estimates of the financial costs and loss of well-being from hearing loss.Nothing of this nature had been done prior in Australia.
The findings are somewhat scary and can be summed up as follows:
1 in 6 Australians are affected by hearing loss
3/4 Australians over 70 years old are impacted by hearing loss
Projections are that 1 in 4 Australians will be affected by hearing loss by 2050
The impacts of hearing loss on individuals include:
Reduced ability to communicate
Ability to listen is reduced
Ability to respond is reduced
For some the ability to speak is impaired
Other health effects are related to hearing loss
While hearing aids and Cochlear implants can help, it is estimated 85% of those with hearing loss do not have such devices
The cost of hearing loss in Australia
In 2005 this was $11,75bn or 1,4% of GDP
This is $3,324 per person
Main loss is that of productivity which is 57%
Nearly 50% of those sufferring from hearing loss are 15-64 years old
Cost of carers for these people is around 27%
In terms of health and hearing loss and disability weighting:
Mild hearing loss is comparable to mild asthma
Moderate hearing loss is comparable to chronic back pain
Sever hearing loss is comparable to pneumonia on an ongoing basis
The full Access Economics report can be found here. The report was completed in 2006 but is still very relevant.
When you read these, the impact of hearing loss on an individual is severe and should not be ignored. While age and hearing loss seem to go in most cases hand in hand, look at the stats. This is not something you want to accelerate or bring forward.
Think about that next time you work in a noisy environment without hearing protection, got to a loud pub or crank up the volume on your MP3 player.
Read more on hearing loss on the main Free Hearing test website