The ability to hear is probably taken for granted by people who were born with all five senses intact. However, noise-induced hearing loss is actually a thing that can affect anyone. It can be permanent or temporary. The best way to check for hearing loss is to get a hearing test done. Several factors would affect whether your hearing is damaged or not, and the damage can be in either ear or both. The major factors are listed below, and it is important that you know them.

Decibel Level

Units of sound are measured according to decibels. Decibels exceeding 85 can damage your hearing. If you were exposed to noise levels over 85 decibels for a long period of time, your chances of developing permanent hearing loss increases, as opposed to people who were not exposed to the same noise level.

People in loud noise can also experience nerve damage and hearing tests do not pick up on this type of damage. Most of the devices we use have a volume control, so that is pertinent in controlling our exposure to too much sound. Also, most jobs advise persons operating heavy machinery to use earmuffs.

Impulse Sound

Certain impulse sounds can trigger a noise-induced hearing loss. Impulses noises may come from explosions and gunshots, for example. These cause acoustic trauma to the eardrum and can actually tear the drum. This tear in the eardrum makes your ear canal more vulnerable to infection and results in hearing loss. Despite the fact that it can be treated and healed, in some instances, surgery may be required to repair the damage. Having a ruptured eardrum can be very uncomfortable and painful. If you are exposed to impulse sounds on a daily basis, you should take steps to protect your ears.

Damaged Hair

The average human has about 1700 hairs in their ear canal. The hairs' cells detect sound and send the messages to your brain for decoding. Usually, only a hearing test will show if any damage has occurred. Hairs are like shafts of grass, and when decibel levels are too high, they bend so they are unable to pick up the sound. In some instances, the hair may recover, and your hearing will return. But in other instances they don't recover and some cells actually die.

You can get a quick hearing check at an adult medicine clinic during your routine checkup. If you're worried at the moment about your hearing, perhaps it's time to schedule that visit. For more general health information, visit websites like http://www.bfpclinic.com.