- Hi guys, Cliff Olson, Doctor of Audiology and founder
of Applied Hearing Solutions in Phoenix, Arizona.
And in this video, in honor of World Hearing Day, March 3rd,
I'm talking about the three things that you need
to know when it comes to your hearing, coming up.
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Every year, on March 3rd is considered world hearing day.
This day is intended to raise awareness
about hearing loss prevention and to promote
hearing care across the world.
Not only is hearing, one of your five senses,
but it is arguably the most important sense when it comes
to communication with others.
As an audiologist, I am constantly reminded on a daily basis
of three extremely important things
when it comes to your hearing.
But before I share what these three things are,
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Now let's talk about that first, most important thing,
which is protecting your hearing.
Maintaining your ability to hear requires the preservation
of tiny microscopic hair cells inside of your ears.
That allow, sounds to make it to your brain.
Most humans have approximately 15,000 hair cells
in each ear at birth.
12,000 of these hair cells are called outer hair cells
that are responsible for making sounds
audible enough for you to hear.
And approximately 3000 of these hair cells are
considered inner hair cells that are responsible
for taking these audible sounds and transferring them
cleanly up to your brain, so you can understand them.
Most people will have no idea how delicate
these hair cells are and how easy it is
to damage them, resulting in a hearing loss.
While there are a number of things that can damage
these hair cells like genetics, age,
chemical exposure, and head trauma.
The number one most preventable form of damage
is noise exposure.
I remember being a teenager and listening
to music way too loud which is likely the reason
that I have a hearing loss in my right ear.
In fact, it wasn't until I was in Marine Corps boot camp,
where the military audiologist told me that I needed
to be protecting my hearing anytime I was around loud noise.
While it was too late for me to save my right ear
from noise-induced hearing loss, it was that interaction
with the military audiologist that prevented me
from losing even more hearing when I served
as a Marine Corps scout sniper.
Because anytime I was in a noisy situation,
I wore hearing protection.
Now, in case you don't know,
there are three basic forms of hearing protection.
The first one is to just avoid noisy situations.
The second one is to use in-the-ear hearing protect.
And the third one is to use over-the-ear hearing protection.
Avoidance is simple.
Just don't put yourself into a noisy situation.
But if you're not sure what a noisy situation is
and if it is going to be enough noise
to cause damage to your hearing.
One great thing that you can use is an Apple iWatch.
I have an Apple iWatch right here and it will actually
track the amount of noise in your situation.
So if you end up exceeding a certain level of noise,
it will give you a warning saying that you can only be
in that situation for a certain period of time.
Now, there are a variety of different
in-the-ear hearing protectors.
But my personal favor is just to use these
little foam protectors.
You essentially roll them like this between your fingers
to make them really skinny.
And then you pull your ear back and insert it
into your ear canal about three quarters of the way.
And you hold it there until that hearing protector expands.
Once it expands, it is one of the best forms
of hearing protection that you can actually use.
Now, for whatever reason, if you can't get
in-the-ear hearing protection, or you just can't figure out
how to get it inside of your actual ear,
you can always go for the over-the-ear earmuffs.
These earmuffs are great.
You just have to make sure that they're in good condition
and that the pads are not cracking.
So it actually prevents that noise
from damaging your hearing.
The point is, you need to protect those hair cells.
And if you do, it significantly increases the chance
that you'll have good hearing for a really long time.
The second most important thing when it comes
to your hearing is identification of hearing loss.
If for whatever reason you do develop a hearing loss,
it is very important to identify that earlier,
rather than later.
This is why ReSound, today's video sponsor, has developed
an online hearing test to help you easily identify
whether you may have a hearing loss.
All you have to do is go to resound.com or click
the link that I will have down in the description.
After entering some basic demographic information,
you'll complete a series of tests
where you'll first identify certain words
with varying degrees of speech babble as background noise.
Then you'll identify different numbers
amongst static background noise.
The test only takes a few minutes.
And ReSound will indicate if you have
a possible hearing loss.
If it does identify a hearing loss,
the next best thing that you can do
is go in and see a hearing care professional
for a comprehensive hearing evaluation
to determine how severe your hearing loss is
and if your hearing loss would require treatment.
And treatment of your hearing loss happens
to be the third most important thing
when it comes to your hearing.
If you were unsuccessful in protecting your hearing
from noise exposure, or you have hearing loss due
to things you can't control like genetics or age,
and you're fortunate enough
to have identified your hearing loss.
Then treatment is the next best thing that you can do.
In order to do this successfully, you need to find
the right hearing aid technology
and a hearing care professional,
who can get the most out of that technology.
ReSound has been manufacturing hearing aids since 1943
and is the most recognized hearing aid brands
around the world.
There are new ReSound ONE hearing aids
are some of the most advanced hearing aids known to man.
And they are the first hearing aids to ever
incorporate a microphone on the back of a receiver
inside of your ear canal.
Not only does this M&RIE receiver preserve
the natural pinna effects that are unique
to every individual hearing aid user,
but it also fits in
with ReSound's organic hearing philosophy.
"To help you hear the way that nature intended."
I say it all the time.
This is the best time in history to treat your hearing loss
because of all of the advancement in hearing aid technology
the advancement of fitting techniques
to get the most out of your devices.
Overall world hearing day is that one day a year
that we can sit back and reflect
on just how important our hearing is.
So do yourself a favor, in honor of world hearing day,
take a few minutes to think about the ways
that you can protect your hearing.
If you suspect that you have a hearing loss,
go ahead and get your hearing tested.
And if you do have a hearing loss,
get your hearing loss treated as soon as you possibly can.
That's it for this video.
If you have any questions,
leave them in the comment section below.
If you like the video, please share it.
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Also feel free to check out my website, drcliffaud.com.
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