Each month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) puts out a Vital Signs report devoted to a specific “health threat.” Their February 2017 one — titled “Too Loud! For Too Long!”— was all about noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). It earned its own report because, as the CDC notes, “hearing loss is the third most common chronic health condition in in the U.S.”
In addition to statistics such as “70 percent of people exposed to loud noise never or seldom wear hearing protection,” was today’s fact about the number of people with noise-induced hearing loss.
It should come as no surprise that so many people suffer from NIHL. Between restaurants, gyms, city sidewalks and personal audio devices, it’s hard to find a quiet place anymore.
What is a surprise is how few people actually do anything to prevent noise-induced hearing loss. (See that 70 percent stat above.) Maybe they don’t know that it is preventable. But as Dr. Kyle Acker explained to his younger self, it is!
If you are one of the many millions of Americans who has noise-induced hearing loss, do what the CDC recommends and get a hearing evaluation right away. Call 1-888-908-1845 or click here and we can help schedule one.
And, if you’re not one of the one-in-four and don’t ever want to be, check out these tips for how to protect your hearing from noise.
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