“Doctor, am I going deaf?” A young man entered the occupational health examination office in a hurry with a hearing checklist. He is a sheet metal worker in an automobile company, and the results of this examination suggest hearing abnormalities. Sheet metal workers are exposed to noise for long periods of time, and if their hearing decreases to a certain level, they will be transferred from their jobs for occupational protection.
However, the patient’s workplace was well protected, and the noise in the work environment was in line with national requirements. How come he had problems with his ears? After careful questioning and examination, the doctor found that the patient’s hearing loss is related to the “non-occupational” noise generated by his love of listening to songs on headphones.
Nowadays, many young people have the habit of wearing headphones to listen to music, and some even walk and eat without taking off their headphones. There are reports that the sound intensity of headphones can reach up to 120 decibels, which has far exceeded the general noise work environment noise intensity (85 decibels). As you can imagine, wearing headphones at high volume for a long time to listen to songs is a noisy stimulus to the ears, which may lead to tinnitus, ear discomfort, and even trigger hearing loss. This patient’s daily work environment noise is around 80 decibels, working 4-6 hours a day and wearing noise-canceling earplugs, although he has only been working for 5 years, but the habit of wearing headphones to listen to songs has lasted for 10 years.
The doctor asked the patient to change his habit of listening to songs at high volume with headphones and to recheck his hearing to clarify the true hearing condition. The results of the recheck showed that although his hearing had decreased, it had not reached a level where he could not work in noise, much less affect speech communication. The doctor reminded that damaged hearing that has occurred is difficult to recover, but as long as you change the habit of wearing headphones to listen to songs at high volume, insist on wearing noise-cancelling earplugs at work, and have regular occupational health checks, it is possible to prevent further hearing damage.
