Some injuries you can recover from. Bruises fade over time. Small cuts heal. Even broken bones can be set back in place.
Unfortunately, your hearing isn’t like that.
Your ability to hear relies on the small and intricate parts of your inner ear all working together. There are tiny bones that carry vibrations to the eardrum. Those vibrations then move minuscule hairs which translate that input into electrical signals that your brain interprets as sound.
Exposure to excess noise can damage those microscopic hairs, which makes them less sensitive to those vibrations.
That’s how your hearing gets damaged. The sound is still making its way to your ear, but the system that sends those signals to your brain is no longer working at full capacity.
Once that happens, there’s no bouncing back from it. There’s no cure for hearing loss. It’s permanent and irreversible.
Hearing Loss Is Permanent
Hearing loss can’t be fixed, but it can be prevented.
But sadly, it’s still common for people to damage their hearing on the job.
Partly, that’s because the noise levels that cause hearing loss are fairly easy to tolerate.
You don’t have to be standing near a jet engine to damage your hearing. Spending all day in a factory will do it. So is using power tools without wearing your earplugs.
Protect Your Hearing
A lot of people believe that if the noise isn’t bother them, then it can’t be damaging their hearing. But that’s simply not the case.
If the level of noise in your workplace regularly exceeds 85 decibels, your employer must provide you with earplugs or earmuffs to protect your hearing.
Use them.
Even when it seems inconvenient. Even when you’re just using loud equipment for a minute. Even when you’re not the one operating the loud machinery.
Don’t take chances with your hearing.
Wear your hearing protection whenever you’re exposed to noise. Because once you start losing your hearing, it’s already too late. There’s no getting it back.