Surfer's Ear: Why Australians Should Face Serious Hearing Loss

Hearing loss continues to linger in the elderly population of today’s society. Yet, the onset of hearing loss can occur at any age and at any point in

This happens in two ways: listening at too high of a volume, or listening for too long. Studies have confirmed the obvious fact that “the louder the noise and the longer you’re hearing it, the greater the risk of hearing loss” (Siegel). This study concluded that an increasing amount of teens are suffering hearing loss and “wearing earbuds to listen to music may be to blame” (Siegel). The knowledge of loud sounds hurting the ear is well known, but not as many people are aware of the problems caused by listening to music for an extended amount of time. “Constant low-level noise might cause hearing problems, a new study in rats finds” (Cheung). Even music at a low level can damage a listener’s hearing if heard for an extended period of time, but what can losing some hearing really do to a

The ear is made up of three areas: the outer, middle, and inner ear. The outer ear is very important for collecting sound waves. It is made up of the pinna and the ear canal. The pinna, the actual physical outward appearance of the ear, receives sound waves and begins to funnel them into the ear canal.

This is when sound cannot pass efficiently through the outer and middle ear to the cochlea and auditory nerve. The most common type of conductive deafness in children is caused by ‘glue ear’. Glue ear (or otitis media) affects about one in five children at any time.

The condition Colin is likely to be suffering from is Presbycusis. Presbycusis is an age-related hearing loss, it is a hearing disorder that can be caused by a variety of different factors. It is usually a sensorineural hearing disorder but can be a conductive hearing loss. A conductive hearing loss is when it is caused by problems with the ear canal, ear drum, middle ear and the malleus, uncus and stapes this can result in reduced function of the tympanic membrane or reduced function of auditory ossicles. Most commonly it is as a result of changes within the inner ear, middle ear or the nerve pathways to the brain. The cochlea is lined with tiny hair cells; these hairs convert sound vibrations into electrical signals which are received at the brain by a nerve. These cells can become damaged over time this means electrical signals cannot be transmitted as effectively so hearing becomes affected. Long-term exposure to loud noises such as that from traffic and loud equipment which Colin would have been exposed to working as a mechanic can also be a cause of

Our head of audiology, Dr. Sarah Kate Fisher knows hearing issues first hand. As a child she had chronic ear infections that affected her hearing and speech. Luckily, her hearing impairment was resolved with middle ear surgery, but it left her with a lasting impression of the vitality of hearing. In addition, Dr. Fisher says, “Witnessing my own

Self-reported hearing difficulties and changes in life-space mobility among community-dwelling older adults: a Two-year follow-Up study

Age is the most common factor in increasing hearing loss. About 30 percent of people between 65 and 74 experience some difficulty in hearing. That percentage and the severity of the loss increase with age.

Acoustic neuroma. This noncancerous (benign) tumor develops on the cranial nerve that runs from your brain to your inner ear and controls balance and hearing. Also called vestibular schwannoma, this condition generally causes tinnitus in only one ear.

Water, competition, goggles, swimsuit, cap, and a towel. All of this is needed to be a competitive swimmer. Everyone seems to not want to wear swimming goggles when they are swimming for fun. I wonder why? Goggles, surprisingly, cause serious injuries to the eye. The injuries don’t always happen to competitive swimmers, children also can get hurt from the regular swimming goggles when they are swimming for fun. Everyone dislikes it when your goggles steam up from your breath or your body heat. Kids always just pull off their goggles and dip them in the water. That is how you clear them right? Well, sometimes the goggles slips from their wet little fingers and the goggles come flying back. The goggle ends up scratching the eye or maybe even causing the child to have to get their eye removed because the goggle did so much damage. That is just one thing that could have gone wrong.

The snail like shape of the cochlear effectively boosts the strength of the vibrations caused by sound, especially for low pitches. When sound waves hit the ear drum, tiny bones in the ear transmit the vibrations to the fluid of the cochlea, where they travel along a tube that winds into a spiral. The tube’s properties gradually change along its length, so the waves grow and then die away, much as an ocean wave travelling towards the shore gets taller and narrower before breaking at the beach.

It has been proven that excessive exposure to a noisy environment can result in permanent hearing damage. The noise could be a result of a variety of environments such as at air shows, concerts, work, home or play. If you work in a noisy environment, you are being exposed every day for many hours! Just because your ears might not be hurting or ringing when you leave the noisy environment, there is still a negative impact on your ears due to the constant noise and its impact is cumulative.

Support 2: Open Swimming- Open swimming like at sea, lake or river can increase the chances of drowning because the water currents are not stable like in pools. They are more dynamic and can pull you along with it. Aquatic animals like Jelly fishes, sharks, crabs, crocodiles, alligator, etc. are other threats as they can harm you physically. You can also injure yourself while diving into shallow water. But these effects can be stopped by swimming at a public pool and most have swim equipment such as pull buoys, kick boards, and fins to help increase your performance.

Other than buying a swimsuit, goggles, and a cap, the nose plug is the next thing on the list for beginners. The Biggest advantage of wearing a nose plug is it prevents water from entering the nose. Getting water up the nose is the one of the worst feelings. It could mess up the whole race and slow the swimmer down. Another advantage of wearing a nose plug is the flip turns. For a beginner swimmer flip turns can be hard. Putting on a nose plug will make it so the swimmer doesn’t have to exhale out of his or her nose while in the flip turn. The nose plug will help you work on

Eardrum perforation may result from chronic infection or, less commonly, from trauma to the eardrum.