Using Headphones? You Could Be Harming Yourself
The Hidden Danger Of Enjoying Your Music
Dr. Michael Dahlke of ENT Associates tells us that hearing loss from listening to very loud music through headphones, can be far worse in children than in adults. The scary part is that most children typically turn up the volume anyway. I know I did!
With the increasing use of smartphones and the ease of downloading their favorite songs, today’s young people are putting themselves at risk every time they listen to music! more so if they are using headphones or inner ear headphones.
Before you plug headphones into your iPod, think twice about it. You could be affecting your hearing for years to come. It all comes down to how loud you’re playing those tunes. And the younger you are the worse it can be.
“We have seen an increase in the incidents of hearing loss in younger people…teenagers and even younger,” says Dr. Michael Dahlke, of ENT Associates. “You have a smaller volume for that sound pressure and therefore it can be worse in children than in adults.”
On a weekly basis he sees a number of noise induced hearing loss. Tinnitus, or ringing in the ears caused by loud noises, can strike at a young age and haunt you forever….
More at SPECIAL REPORT: Think Twice Before You Plug in Headphones
Chronic loss of hearing is now more common than ever, and affects 10 million adults and 5.2 million children in the United States. There is no known cure for tinnitus (or ringing in the ears), the most common hearing loss disorder, and it is becoming ever more frequent in our society due to the rise of environmental noise….
More at The health risks of noise pollution – The Imperfect Parent
My advice would be to carefully check the output levels of any headphones you get for your chlidren. Make sure they are awar of the dangers of listening at high levels and see if there is a way to actually restrict the loudness settings. Many headphones these days have these settings.
After who wants a child to start suffering with tinnitus at a very young age when it can easily be avoided.
Hearing Loss, A Ringing In The Ears Linked ToStress
Hearing Loss And Ringing Ears From Stress
Here at T-Gone Remedies we have long known that the major factors that cause a ringing in the ears are noise and stress. After all we speak to hundreds of people every week about this problem.
What surprises me is the fact that it has taken the WHO so long to notice that hearing and tinnitus is becoming a major problem! They have recently concluded a study that not surprisingly, finds that tinnitus and hearing loss will very soon be a major problem indeed.
In fact the vast majority of people with ringing in ears and hearing loss have been subjected to extreme stress or anxiety over a period of years and most have also been lots of exposed to loud noise in the lifetimes, hence to hearing loss and ringimg in the ears.
World Health Organisation Ear Ringing Hearing Loss From Stress Study
According to the World Health Organization, hearing loss will become one of the most common disabilities in the near future. To find out why hearing loss is on the rise, researchers have begun studying what factors contribute to deteriorating hearing abilities. What they found might surprise you….
A linear relationship exists between certain stressors and hearing health. What this means is that those respondents that reported more stress, especially in the areas of poor sleep and ill health, also had more complaints of tinnitus and hearing loss. Men and women both showed similar results, and when considering health status, both men and women reported that hearing loss seemed worse when they perceived their health status to be low.
Workplace stress was also correlated with hearing health. The more stressed respondents reported that they feel from work, the more they also complained of hearing loss and tinnitus. It is well known that stress leads to health problems, such as a decreased ability to fight off infections and increases in the chance of developing heart conditions, but it was not until this study was published that there was a clear association with hearing and stress….
More at Stress, Tinnitus and Hearing Loss Linked
Some Ways To Combat Stress Naturally
Now that we know that stress is a conributing factor to exacerbating our ringing in the ears, lets find some easy ways to rid ourselves of stress, because it cannot always be totally avoided.
Physical activity and vigorous exercise can be very effective ways of battling stress. It won’t have effects at first, but if you keep at it each day, the effects will start to compound over time. Not only can it relieve a great deal of stress, but it can also gift people with self-esteem and give them back some control over life….
If you’re feeling particularly stressed out, limit your caffeine intake. Caffeine increases the body’s production of stress hormones, so the more coffee you drink, the more stressed you are likely to become. Replace your daily cup of coffee with some green tea to reduce stress levels.
Compose an affirmation, a positive, short statement that will help to focus your coping mechanism. As you repeat your affirmation to yourself, you will be able to stifle that wheedling, pessimistic voice from within. Try to put the issues that you are dealing with in perspective and take an optimistic approach…
See ore stress avoidance tips here: Helpful Tips If You Are Having Problems With … – Tinnitus Treatment
Tinnitus, or as it it commonly called a ringing in the ears has been around for many thousands of years already, but only in this fast paced, loud, stress filled modern world of ours is it becoming a major problem.
Tinnitus Is Not A Joke
Severe Tinnitus Can Be Very Debilitating
From all the tweets I see every day, the Facebook comments, blog posts and the like, it seems to me that people who do NOT have tinnitus, love to joke about it, make fun of it and that old human failing that we all suffer from, “I will never get tinnitus, it won’t happen to me…”
art edmaiston @SarahKSilverman It’s tinnitus. Your ears are ringing from hearing loss. Or maybe just grease yer ceiling fan motor….
After all, how can a few ringing noises in your ears affect your life?
Rachel Nugent 30, has found that it affected every aspect of her life. Specifically she has found it very difficult to sleep, which has left her moody, tired and irritable! One doctor even suggested the cause of the tinnitus was because she was slightly overweight!
Even a nice doctor told her that she must just live with it!
Her last job was in a very quiet environment which, ironically, made it difficult for her to concentrate. About her social life, Rachael says, “I never go to the cinema anymore as it is too hard to concentrate on the film. The theatre is also very difficult, but I still go as it is a passion. However it can be very upsetting when I can’t focus on the play.”
Even going on holiday offers no pleasure. “Holidays are futile as it’s just too hard to relax – I constantly need a TV, radio or iPod on for background noise. I can’t even read as much as I used to. I only read at night now, and sometimes I have to force myself not to give in and put the book down.”
She offers this advice to those family members and friends who have no experience of tinnitus ringing in the ears:
With regards to those who haven’t experienced tinnitus, Rachael pleads, “If you have a loved one who has tinnitus, please make a real effort to remember they are going through hell. In my experience, friends just forget that you have it, because it’s not a symptom you can see. On a positive note, my mum, dad and sister have all been wonderful and I would have gone under without them.”
Read the full article at deafnessresearch.org.uk
In closing I would suggest that as we love going to movies, the theater, socializing, sleeping, reading and everything we all take for granted, perhaps it is time to starting taking of ourselves before we too start hearing the dreaded whooshing, ringing, screeching, ringing, whistling and a host of other noises in the head known as tinnitus.
Tinnitus Leads To Suicide
National Health Service Criticised For Tinnitus Sufferers Death
A musician, Robert McIndoe has tragically ended his life by stabbing, after complaining for months and months about severe tinnitus. The tinnitus was obviously caused by cochlear damage which started after Mr McIndoe had attended a concert.
Being a musician it it likely that he had prior damage and hearing loss but it seems the concert by rock band Them Croked Vultures triggered the severe tinnitus that was to follow.
This just goes to show how very debilitating tinnitus can be for artists and musicians who often feel they cannot function properly as a result of the tinnitus.
This mans story is chronicled below, and it seems he was sent around from pillar to post and in one day he even visited three hospitals!
Coroner slams delays over tinnitus sufferer who stabbed himself to death
A coroner has critcised “shameful” NHS delays in treating a management consultant who stabbed himself to death while waiting to get treated for tinnitus.
The married father-of-two saw the band – whose members include former Nirvana and Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones, and Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme – in July 2010.
By the end of October, three months later, despite his repeat attempts to get treatment, he was still suffering desperately and stabbed himself in the heart, Southwark Coroner’s Court heard.
As he lay fatally injured he texted a family member to say he was on his ‘death bed’.
His body was found by the relative at his home in Sydenham, southeast London, on October 29.
He was diagnosed with ‘adjustment disorder’ and was due to start a combined treatment with an ear, nose and throat specialist and cognitive behavioural therapy when he died.
The inquest heard he was even prepared to have surgery to make him deaf if it would stop the noise….
You can read the rest of the article here: Coroner slams delays over tinnitus sufferer who stabbed himself to death – Telegraph.co.uk
Tinnitus does not affect all of us that severely thank goodness, but we still hear of many people committing suicide purely because life becomes to difficult for some. They can’t work, battle to socialise, suffer from insomnia and depression.
But Tinnitus Can Be Avoided!
The very sad part about all of this is that if the authorities would launch a proper education campaign as early as the pre-school stage, young people would be aware of the actual dangers of listening to very loud music on the MP3 players or car stereos.
I know of many children in the 6 to 10 year old bracket who are always on their iPods, blissfully unaware that they are damaging the delicate inner ear structures. Even 15 minutes at 80 decibels can cause irreparable damage, and believe you me, most of these kids are pumping up that volume as loud as it can go!
I believe we should all take it upon ourselves to educate the children we care about. Let’s do something about this now to save future generations of tinnitus sufferers!
Tinnitus Tips
Tinnitus Tips To Help You Banish That Ringing For Good
The nonstop noise of tinnitus can be a frustrating and even maddening affliction to cope with, but in a lot of cases, it goes away all by itself. There are a variety of effective treatments for tinnitus. The following paragraphs contain the helpful hints and ideas you need to cope with this irritating affliction.
Realizing that the sound you’re hearing isn’t a problem is the first step in learning to live with tinnitus. Why is it bothering you? The answer is because you’re allowing yourself to focus on it. Find something else to concentrate on like a mantra or lyrics to a song which will take your mind off the sound.
Be sure to control the noise level of your speakers. If you are in a public place, wear headphones. A common cause of sudden-onset tinnitus is being in a loud environment for too long. An example is just hearing a loud burst of noise at an event that can cause your ears to ring for many days.
One relatively new tool in the fight to conquer the symptoms of tinnitus is a sonic pillow. This pillow has been tried out on soldiers who suffered from tinnitus due to the excess noise during war time. There is a commercially available pillow that is in the works for the general public to use for relief of their tinnitus symptoms.
The severity of tinnitus is triggered by many things, but one of the more common triggers is loud sounds. If you have tinnitus, you must be sure to avoid any areas that are going to subject you to loud noises. If you must be in that type of area, be sure to wear quality ear protection.
If you suffer from tinnitus, your first step should be getting your hearing checked. Even slight hearing loss can be enough to cause an onset of tinnitus. If you find that you do have hearing loss, simply getting hearing aids can eliminate your tinnitus symptoms. In a very few extreme cases, surgery may be necessary.
One method that is effective in alleviating pulsatile tinnitus is removing the ear wax that is impacted in your ear canal. There are several products that can be purchased over-the-counter to remove the ear wax. However, to get the best results in ear wax removal, you should have it removed by a medical professional.
Many people have found relief from their chronic tinnitus from taking nutritional supplements and herbal alternatives. Although there is almost no scientific evidence to back up these claims, people have found some relief using vitamin B complex, mineral supplements with calcium, magnesium, zinc, and herbal extracts like ginkgo biloba.
Remain calm. Tinnitus is only rarely a symptom of a serious brain condition or hearing problem. You don’t need to stress about suddenly having developed a brain tumor or puncturing an eardrum. Generally, tinnitus is a condition all on its own, without an underlying medical explanation that could lead to other problems.
Look carefully at stress and determine how to eliminate it to help relieve tinnitus symptoms. Sometimes tinnitus can be cause by emotional problems in your life. Try not to rush through life and plan things in advance. Educate yourself about deep relaxation methods, and then make a daily ritual of them as long as it takes for them to become automatic behavior.
Use “white noise” to help manage tinnitus. If your doctor has looked for and ruled out treatable conditions, you can still minimize the sensation of ringing or whistling in your ears by using external masking sounds such as an electric fan or quiet music. White noise can also help you sleep better, which is good for your overall health.
To avoid aggravating your tinnitus further, choose the foods you eat carefully. Salt, caffeine, artificial sweeteners, and sugar, can all make the symptoms of your tinnitus worse. If you don’t want to give up all these things, try eliminating them one at a time to find out which one, if any, is causing problems.
Exercise is a great way to fight tinnitus because it will exhaust your body. Sp when it comes time to go to sleep, your body will need the rest. Tinnitus symptoms can seem elevated at night when things are quiet and if your body is not tired, this can lead to tossing and turning for hours before you fall asleep.
Stress can cause tinnitus. Identify the sources of your stress and do what you can to be more relaxed. Find a hobby to help you relax in your free time and avoid stressful situations if you can. Perhaps you should learn meditation or yoga to help you get rid of your stress.
Exercise outdoors whenever you can. Exercise helps to reduce emotional stress; lower stress levels, in turn, can help ease tinnitus symptoms. Being outdoors also surrounds you with nature sounds, which are usually relaxing and also help to mask tinnitus noises. Furthermore, the improvement that exercise can bring to your overall health and quality of life helps to counteract the depression that commonly accompanies chronic conditions like tinnitus.
Make sure you avoid stress as much as possible, this can help you from getting or tinnitus or keeping it under control. Don’t bite off more than you can chew, agree to things you can’t finish, spend more than you have or allow the emotion of trivial things to affect you. Remaining calm and in control can help some individuals regulate their blood pressure, which helps with the ringing sound in their ears.
You need to try meditation and yoga to provide relief from your tinnitus symptoms and pain. Focus your energy in a positive direction and you may be able to distract the brain long enough to provide some relief for you. The benefits are double. You can reduce your stress with yoga and meditation and also minimize the symptoms of tinnitus.
It is a good idea to have some form of background noise distracting you if it doesn’t interrupt your tasks. A quiet room will cause you to believe that the tinnitus has become much worse than it actually is. This will lead to further distraction and cause the problem to grow only further.
When you’re feeling stressed out due to your tinnitus symptoms you have to remember that it won’t kill you! Anything that doesn’t kill you will make you stronger, so take your irritation and turn it into a passion to learn more about your disease. Seek out new treatments and try them under the supervision of your doctor.
As previously noted, tinnitus can be a difficult condition to deal with. Once you figure out how to get relief from tinnitus, you can release the hold that it has on you. Apply the advice and insights presented here to empower yourself in managing your tinnitus to regain peace of mind.
