{"id":31161,"date":"2022-05-20T18:28:15","date_gmt":"2022-05-20T22:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elevateaudiology.com\/?p=31161"},"modified":"2022-05-20T18:28:18","modified_gmt":"2022-05-20T22:28:18","slug":"what-jobs-are-most-at-risk-for-hearing-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elevateaudiology.com\/what-jobs-are-most-at-risk-for-hearing-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"What Jobs Are Most at Risk for Hearing Loss?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The highest risk of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is related to exposures in the workplace, which affects about 7% of the population<\/a>. Below we review how loud sounds cause damage, which professions are most likely to experience this type of hearing loss<\/a> and how you can protect yourself if you work in a noisy field.<\/p>

How Loud Sounds Cause Damage<\/h2>
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Within the inner ear is a snail-shaped organ called the cochlea. The cochlea is lined with tiny hair cells called stereocilia, which convert sound impulses into electrical energy that travels via the auditory nerve to the brain to be interpreted.<\/p>

When dangerously loud sounds enter the ears, it can damage or destroy the stereocilia, which cannot be reversed. The result is permanent sensorineural hearing loss. The threshold that is considered safe is 85 dB \u2013 about the volume of highway traffic. Eight hours or more of exposure of noise at this level at a time can cause noise-induced hearing loss.<\/p>

What Professions Are Most at Risk<\/h2>

A study<\/a> entitled \u201cOccupational noise exposure: A review of its effects, epidemiology, and impact with recommendations for reducing its burden\u201d was published in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America <\/em>in 2019. This study examined which professions are most at risk of noise-induced hearing loss, and found that:<\/p>