Dear Parent:

re concerned about environmental noise pollutionand your child's hearing health. There are over 28 milionAmericans working, playing, and living around environmentalnoise that is dangerously loud.

Noise-induced hearing impairrent is permanent. It also hard to recogize, since it is painless and developsslowly. A persn suffering from noise-induced hearingimpairment often has diffculty understanding what otherssay, making communication diffcult. With special training, ahearing aid may help some people communicate a littebetter, but it can t bring back what is already damaged ordestroyed. Medicine or surgery will not cure noise inducedhearing impairment.

Hearing-impaired children may have problems learningin school. It may be hard for them to talk, play, and establishrelationships with other children, which are essential forgrowt into healthy, stable adults.

Many things we find necessary or convenient or evenenjoyable add to today s growing noise problems. Theseproducts include dishwashers, air conditioners, power toolstrcks, airplanes, hair dryers, constrction, loud musicsnowmobiles , motorcycles , and toys.

ConQ ess has passed legislation that will requiremanufacturers to label equipment and toys that may harmyour hearing. But this alone is not enough. Everyone canhelp. Make hearing protection and reducing noise a familyaffair. Ask your child what noises bother him or her at home.Tell your child what noises bother you. Discuss this brochuretogether. We think you ll learn much about your hearing andhow to protect it.

Think quiet!

American Speech-Language andHearing Association

S. Environmental Protection AgencyOffice of Noise Abatement

and Control

Whether you enjoy it or not. . .. . . TOO MUCH noise can causePERMANENT hearing impairment!

The louder the sound is , and the longeryou listen to it, the more likely damagewil occur.

for example:A rock musician who is around loudmusic every night is likely to get ahearing impairment from too muchloud music much sooner than a bandstudent who is around the same loudmusic for only one hour during the day.

You have had difficulty hearing orunderstanding what someone said

You have had ringing in your earsafter being in a noisy place

You have been unable to hear verywell after listening to loud music orother sounds for a long time

You may have been exposed to aloud sound that is hazardous to yourhearing health.

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Noise is measured in units calleddecibels (dB). The greater the numberof decibels, the louder the noise. Thisthermometer can give you an idea ofhow loud some sounds are. Noiselevels (in decibels) indicated on thethermometer are approximate asmeasured at tyical listener s distance. Ifyou re exposed to sounds above 70 dBfor a long time, they may harm yourhearing, sooner or later.

HAFULTO HEAING

Hearing conservation programs arerecommended for all employees inworkplaces where noise levels are85dB or greater.

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ha.t happens inside

the Ear when wehear sounds? c:/ )The OUTER EAR acts like a funnel to (.Adirect sound waves from the air to the

tympanic membrane (eardrum). Soundcauses the tympanic membrane to vibrate. These vibrations cause the three bones(malleus, incus, and stapes) in the MIDDLEEAR to move mechanically. The middle earsends these mechanical vibrations to theINNER EAR where they are picked up by tinyhair cens and sent as electrcal impulses alongthe au.ditory nerve to the brain.

Conductive Loss

OuterEar

A problem Involving your outer or middle ear isconductive. Usually, your doctor can help bring backnormal hearing with medicine or surgery.

SensoriwNeural LossA problem involving your inner ear is sensori-neural. Damage to the inner ear is permanent.Sometimes a hearing aid wil help by makingsounds louder, but it cannot repair damagealready done.

When you listen to sounds that are too.loud for a long time they may damagethe hair cells in the inner ear.

It's sort of like walking on grass ' overand over again. At first, the blades ofgrass just bend and then spring back.But.. .

MiddleEar

InnerEar

Coch.lea

Stapes (stirrp )

Incus (anvil)

Malleus (hammer)

TympanicmembraneAuditorynerve

. . . if walked on constantly, the bladesof grass no longer spring back. Theyturn yellow and die.

All noise doesn t have to be too loud.Some noise can just be ANNOYINGenough to produce such bad effects asSTRESS , TENSION, and ANXIETY.

Of course many other things couldcause these problems, but. . . thereason could be NOISE!

Sometimes our ears give us hintsthey ve been overworked by toomuch sound. . .

Such as when we have a restless sleepor can t sleep at all.

Such as when we end up with aheadache.

Such as when we can t hear verywell after exposure to loud sound.

Such as when we can t concentrate onwhat we re doing.

Such as when we become impatientand frustrated.

Such as when we have ringing in ourears after being around loud sound.

Who can help? Many people are interested in protecting yourhearing.

FAILPASSThe school nurse may give you ahearing screening test to see if you

ed a complete hearing test.

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The otolaryngologist is a medicaldoctor who may look in your ear, noseand throat, and give you medicine orrecommend surgery for your hearingimpairment. The otolaryngologistmay send you to an audiologist for acomplete hearing evaluation orrehabilitation (special training).

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The audiologist, a certfied or licensedprofessional , may give you a com letehearing evaluation to measure yourhearing abilities. If you have a hearingimpairment, the audiologist will tellyou how bad it is, what tye it is, andwhat can be done to help you getalong despite a hearing impairment. Ifyou need it, the audiologist mayrecommend a hearing aid and helpyou select one.

After you have seen theotolaryngologist and the audiologistthe hearing aid dealer may sell you ahearing aid.

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your

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American Speech.

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