Health Listen Up

Be on the lookout for loud situations and proceed with caution to protect your ears,

- Paula Goodyer

When you injure yourself it usually hurts, but when your hearing is damaged you may not feel a thing. It can happen when loud noise damages the delicate hair cells in the inner ear that send sound signals to the brain. Over time, loud sounds can batter these cells so badly that they no longer transmit sound.

That’s how preventable hearing loss can start, and not just in older people. “Increasing numbers of 20 to 60 year olds are acquiring preventable hearing loss and/or tinnitus – the buzzing, roaring, ringing or hissing sound that can occur in one or both ears after listening to loud sound, and which may mean a hearing injury,” says Professor Robert Cowan, CEO of Melbourne’s Hearing Cooperative Research Centre.