October is Protect Your Hearing month, and a great time to start practicing healthy hearing habits. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates about 12.5% of youth ages 6-19 and 17% of adults ages 20-69 have noise-induced hearing loss. Noise-induced hearing loss is permanent hearing loss caused by exposure to loud sound. 

Sound is measured in decibels (dB). Decibels increase exponentially, meaning that sound at 110 decibels is 100 times louder than sound at 90 decibels. For more information, see "What is a decibel" from Healthy Hearing.   

Many people are not aware of how loud every day sounds are:  

• 85 dB: City traffic 
• 90 dB: Lawnmower, shop tools, truck traffic, subway 
• 100 dB: Snowmobile, chainsaw, pneumatic drill 
• 110 dB: Rock music, model airplane 
• 120 dB: Jet plane take-off, car stereo, band practice 
• 130 dB: Jackhammer 140 dB: Firearms, air raid siren, jet engine. 

At 100 decibels, the volume of a snowmobile or a concert, you can have hearing damage in just 14 minutes. You may not notice it right away, but over time this exposure is what leads to hearing loss as you get older. 

Protecting your hearing 

It is easy to practice healthy hearing protection habits: 

• Be aware of the volume of sounds around you. Use the list of every day sounds in this post or install a sound meter app on your smartphone. Hearing Health Foundation has more information about measuring sound and lists some sound meter apps you could try. 
• Limit your exposure. Pay attention to how much time you are around loud sounds, and leave before reaching the threshold for damage. A sound meter app can also warn you when your ears may have had enough. 
• Wear hearing protection every time you are around sounds 85 dB or louder. Find earplugs you like and keep them with you all the time. Many come with carry cases you can attach to your keychain. 
• Limit the volume on your devices. The CDC recommends you listen no more than 60 minutes at 60% volume. 

For more information, see DHHSD's guide to Preventing noise-induced hearing loss.  

If you have questions about preventing noise-induced hearing loss, please contact us!