Dangerous Decibels

"The day will come when man will have to fight noise as inexorably as cholera and the plague."
–Robert Koch, Nobel Prize-winning bacteriologist

In 1905, Robert Koch made the above statement - and - it turns out he may well be right. In the past couple of days, two articles were published that highlight the problem from two different angles:

1. Hearing loss hits a younger generation
   
2. Widow's tinnitus appeal after death of husband

Hearing loss (and associated tinnitus) has the potential to be(come) a latent epidemic with a nasty twist. Being latent means it "flies under the radar" until it surfaces, but, with the added complication that there is nothing to fight it when it does.

There are too many people in this world not doing enough to influence change (so-called "influencers"). And that certainly includes the tinnitus population itself (as a simple question: how many on this board have donated to any research entity - like - at all?). It also includes what has become to be known in the niche spheres of influencers as "the widening gap between applied research and clinicians". There are simply too many medical professionals who don't follow-up on research within the ENT field. Regardless of the category, most of you need to do more.

 

Definitely agreed! There are so many people with T that dont say a damn thing about it.
In January of 2014, a full 10 months before I got T, I posted a picture of me with headphones on to facebook. A friend commented "Yeah rock em Jason!" 10 months later after I get it, I found out that that very same friend has it at a moderate level.

 

The question is, would you have listened? I remember when I did my military service and we had a lecture on noise and hearing damage and such. Sure, I was only 20 at the time, but even though I listened at the lecture, I never wore earplugs to concerts and night clubs until it was too late.

 

Join @Team Awareness

 

@Sven that is a good question. Did they talk about tinnitus and hyperacusis during that lecture or was it just hearing damage?

 

I honestly can't remember, since it was back in 1994. All I remember is that the girl speaking talked about listening to the radio at the lowest possible hearable volume before going out and then, coming home, checking to see if you could still hear it.

She ought to have mentioned tinnitus, but you never know. I remember thinking to myself that if I had listened better - and had I been treated by a better doctor (it was in 1994, in the army, I first experienced T, though very mildly) that had actually known what he was talking about - I would have protected my ears better in 1999...

My T was not originally caused by the army, though, but by listening to music too loud in my car and probably in headphones as well.