The sounding board

National Protect Your Hearing Month

The following article was written by Richard Anthony, Director, dB Noise Reduction

One of my sisters is a health and wellness expert. She has stated for years that, "Sitting is the new smoking". Our Mother had died of lung cancer, so she was not trivializing smoking but instead pointing out that sitting TOO MUCH has a profoundly negative effect on human health.

Since learning about the adverse effects of noise on human health, I have modified this phrase to make the point: "NOISE is the new smoking"!

If you haven't yet heard about them, please let me introduce a great organization to you: the good people at the Hearing Health Foundation. They want to remind us that October is also "NATIONAL PROTECT YOUR HEARING MONTH".

These people perform a great service in publishing facts about noise and awareness about Tinnitus and the most damaging type of hearing loss: Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). They also inform us about new technologies and advancements in physics and medical research that point the way to one day being able to repair hearing damage - until then, NIHL remains irreversible BUT PREVENTABLE.

For a perspective on the scale of today's noise problem, Hearing Loss (NIHL and Tinnitus) affects up 50 million people; 20% of teenagers (think: earbuds/headphones) and 60% of active military and veterans. These statistics are for the USA only! Adverse health effects from Hearing Loss are not limited to deafness - it can also contribute to cardiovascular and other physical and/or mental health conditions.

The prerequisite of prevention is AWARENESS. When exposed to loud noise, The Hearing Health Foundation advises to Walk (literally, walk away - noise dissipates with distance), Block (use ear plugs and/or ear muffs; use noise barriers, or even put your hands over your ears in an urgent situation), Turn (turn down the volume; throttle-back machinery; adjust the direction of the noise source).

Please protect your hearing - for life.

About dBNR: dB Noise Reduction provides custom noise control, acoustic and vibration isolation solutions for any application.
Contact sales@dbnoisereduction.com for assistance.

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