This is a share from NEOS KOSMOS, authored by AFMW Past President Associate Professor Magdalena Simonis AM.
NEOS KOSMOS Article [ Extract]
Hearing loss is very common. It’s the second most common medical problem after joint and muscle pains in people aged between 60-70 years. That makes hearing loss more common than asthma, heart disease, cancer and diabetes. If left unmanaged it can have significant physical and mental health consequences and even bring on dementia.
Despite being so common, it is often not talked about because it causes embarrassment in social settings. People who don’t hear well, tend to avoid social gatherings. Initially they might avoid events that take place in busy, noisy places but it eventually results in a person eventually choosing to not go out and just stay home, often alone. Hearing loss usually develops gradually which means people with hearing loss will sometimes not be as aware of this as those around them. Friends and family might complain that they need to repeat themselves or that they have been misheard. If this is happening to you, see your GP and if you are concerned about a loved one, try talking to them about this in a sensitive manner because depression or low mood often develops from the isolation caused from hearing loss.
Key points about hearing loss
- Hearing loss is part of the aging process affecting nearly 60% of over 60s, 70% of over 70s and 80% of over 80s.
- If elderly, depressed and alone – check the hearing.
- Exposure to excessive noise is the most common cause of all premature hearing loss (around 37%) – we call this ‘noise induced hearing loss’.
- Loud noise can cause irreversible hearing loss.
- Illness, exposure to some chemicals, drugs and accidents can cause hearing loss.
- Listening to music through headphones at 94dB for one hour can start to impact your hearing.
- A rock concert at 100 dB can damage your hearing in just 15 minutes and louder sounds such as aeroplanes which are at 110 dB can cause damage in just 1 minute.
- Vacuuming and other household noises although loud, are mostly at around 65 decibels and will not harm your hearing.
- If your parents had declining hearing in their older years, the likelihood you will also is higher.
Early signs of hearing loss
If you live with someone who needs to turn the volume of the TV up all the time regardless of whether you tell them it’s too loud, be suspicious of hearing loss. They might be missing bits of conversation, or just don’t get jokes and strain to listen in cafes and noisy environments. When you or your loved one starts to avoid social gatherings because it’s just ‘getting too hard’ to hear anything or ‘have a meaningful conversation’ when there are groups of people, this is an early sign of hearing loss. If you identify with these situations, regardless of your age, have a hearing assessment. This can make all the difference between becoming increasingly frustrated, withdrawing from social events where there are crowds and the embarrassment you might feel when you ask for things to be repeated. Check out Hearing Australia website which is the government funded hearing services for an assessment if concerned. Consider being fitted for hearing aids if hearing loss is having an impact on your ability to enjoy social outings and conversation with regular background noise, such as the TV.
Sudden loss of hearing in one ear is an urgent matter
Sudden loss of hearing especially if associated with tinnitus or ringing in that ear, needs urgent medical attention. Sometimes, it can be as simple as the result of accumulated ear wax. Your GP will examine your ear canals and recommend appropriate treatments or even remove the wax plug. Do not try to do this yourself. Avoid using over the counter ear drops, wax removers, unless your doctor has examined your ears. Sometimes it can be due to a small tumour on the nerve dedicated to hearing called an acoustic neuroma. This requires an MRI or a CT scan to diagnose it.
Hearing health
- Avoid loud noises and especially prolonged and repeated exposures to loud noises. Be more aware of the sounds you are listening to and for how long. This can reduce your risk of ‘noise induced hearing loss’.
- Avoid loud noises from early on in life because the effects can be cumulative.
- Wear ear protectors (ear plugs, earmuffs) to decrease the sound when using noisy machinery or if planning on attending a rock concert (many of the favourite old rock bands are doing tours again and are attracting older crowds).
- Leaving an event with loud music with ringing in your ears is a sign that damage has occurred. Take the ringing in the ears as a serious warning.
- To look at the loudness of noise and its potential for harm, Decibel X is available on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.
Continue Reading at NEOS KOSMOS >>
Source article and photo: NEOS KOSMOS (stock image of a confused elderly man struggling to hear. Photo: Depositphotos)
Associate Professor Magdalena Simonis AM is a Past President of the AFMW (2020-2023), former President of VMWS (2013 & 2017-2020) and current AFMW National Coordinator (2024-2026). She is a full time clinician who also holds positions on several not for profit organisations, driven by her passion for bridging gaps across the health sector. She is a leading women’s health expert, keynote speaker, climate change and gender equity advocate and government advisor. Magda is member of The Australian Health Team contributing monthly articles.
Magdalena was awarded a lifetime membership of the RACGP for her contributions which include past chair of Women in General Practice, longstanding contribution to the RACGP Expert Committee Quality Care, the RACGP eHealth Expert Committee. She is regularly invited to comment on primary care research though mainstream and medical media and contributes articles on various health issues through newsGP and other publications.
Magdalena has represented the RACGP at senate enquiries and has worked on several National Health Framework reviews. She is author of the RACGP Guide on Female Genital Cosmetic Surgery and co-reviewer of the RACGP Red Book Women’s Health Chapter, and reviewer of the RACGP White book
Both an RACGP examiner and University examiner, she undertakes general practice research and is a GP Educator with the Safer Families Centre of Research Excellence, which develops education tools to assist the primary care sector identify, respond to and manage family violence . Roles outside of RACGP include the Strategy and Policy Committee for Breast Cancer Network Australia, Board Director of the Melbourne University Teaching Health Clinics and the elected GP representative to the AMA Federal Council. In 2022. she was award the AMA (Vic) Patrick Pritzwald-Steggman Award 2022, which celebrates a doctor who has made an exceptional contribution to the wellbeing of their colleagues and the community and was listed as Women’s Agenda 2022 finalist for Emerging Leader in Health.
Magdalena has presented at the United Nations as part of the Australian Assembly and was appointed the Australian representative to the World Health Organisation, World Assembly on COVID 19, by the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA) in 2021. In 2023, A/Professor Simonis was included on the King’s COVID-19 Champion’s list and was also awarded a Member (AM) in the General Division for significant service to medicine through a range of roles and to women’s health.
