Photo credit: ELEVATE
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
As National Protect Your Hearing Month comes to a close, Katie Franklin, hard of hearing services coordinator for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, reminds us that noise-induced hearing loss can be prevented. Of the five senses — vision, hearing, smell, taste and touch — hearing is probably the least appreciated.
Over the years, when people have been asked in opinion surveys what would be the worst thing that could happen to them short of dying, going blind is the most common answer. I think that’s what I would answer, too. When you’re blind, you can’t navigate the environment without difficulty. You certainly can’t drive. You can’t read written text. Blind people have learned to read braille and to perform their activities of daily living and walk with canes or guide dogs.
All these tasks can easily be done by someone born deaf or who has lost their hearing. But hearing has also been called the social sense. Helen Keller once said, “Blindness separates people from things. Deafness separates people from people.”
Preventing noise-induced hearing loss is easy and inexpensive. If something sounds loud, it’s too loud and your auditory health is at risk. Turn down the volume, leave the noisy environment, or use hearing protection and you can prevent noise-induced hearing loss.
