US to Face Hearing Loss Epidemic

[Etienne Rambert]

 

CHICAGO (Reuters) - One of three U.S. adults already suffers from some degree of hearing loss and the use of personal stereos and an aging population may create a hearing impairment epidemic, researchers said on Monday. A team at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore estimated that 55 million Americans have hearing loss in one or both ears, with men, whites and the least-educated most affected.

 

 

LINK

 

Since I don't play or listen to loud music, any future loss I face

will probably be age related.

 

But for the Rock band players & studio people, this is a real danger,

not to mention the idiots you see all the time with their I-Pods.

 

I see it more in Asia than in the US. So hearing loss is going to be

a worldwide problem.

[oldnewbie]

In 2003 I tried enlisting in the army and couldn't pass the hearing test. Looking back I'm kinda glad.

 

Too much loud music in college I guess.

[Raymar]

WHAT??

[blue2blue]

I can hear you fine.

 

I just can't make out what you're saying. Could you face me when you talk and not cover your mouth? Thanks.

 

 

What scares me is that there'll be some little bit of dialog on a TV show that slips by and I'm, like, What'd he say?

 

So I rewind it (love the DVR cable box) and play it again. And still not make it out. By this time, I'm trying to read lips, too, and thinking, man, is this ADR dialog -- the lips aren't in sync with what they're saying, looks like... but if it is, you'd think they would have tried to make it intelligible.

 

So I'll wind back and forth and, damn, but, like, 2/3 of the time, I never figure out what the blinkin' hell they said.

 

It doesn't happen much with older shows (I watch a lot of old movies and re-runs) -- and, oddly, I don't really notice it much with, say, Robert Altman movies (infamous for their overlapping, supposedly hard-to-follow dialog, which apparently drove the studios nuts at first) but I swear that it happens all the time on Law & Order (practically the only new show I'm watching these days).

 

Anyhow...

[blue2blue]

 

In 2003 I tried enlisting in the army and couldn't pass the hearing test. Looking back I'm kinda glad. Too much loud music in college I guess.

 

 

 

I think the hearing test they gave us back when they wanted to draft me (I was too skinny -- ah the good ol' days -- they shoulda waited 'til I was 50) was something like firing off a starter pistol behind your back and if you flinched, you were in. They'd stopped bothering with the earphones and the 'honor system' long before, I'm guessing, although I'm sure a few guys who claimed they couldn't hear 1 kHz in the headphones probably got the full volume treatment along the way.

 

"The Mental Test" (I won't swear to the starter gun bit being absolutely true but they really did call their intelligence test "The Mental Test," I kid thee not) was really a disgrace.

 

It was stuff like, Bill has 1 apple and Sam has 2. If they put all their apples together will they have a) 1 apple; b) 3 apples; c) 17 apples; d) one of the above.

 

I was utterly shocked when one of my friends' brothers was rejected when he tried to enlist. Granted, he had Down's Syndrome (high functioning, though, he got a degree from my HS [which admittedly didn't take much if you were white and your parents were well off -- and it was a special degree]) but I couldn't believe he couldn't pass the stuff on "The Mental Test."

 

I mean, I felt really bad for the kind of folks who could just barely pass that test but were inducted -- and then sent to a war zone.

 

Messed up.

[oldnewbie]

 

) but I couldn't believe he couldn't pass the stuff on "The Mental Test." I mean, I felt really bad for the kind of folks who could just barely pass that test but were inducted -- and then sent to a war zone. Messed up.

 

 

Nowadays they have the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (called ASVAB for short). It was a 3 hour test sitting in front of a computer screen with everything from reading comprehension to algebra to questions about car parts. The army requires a minimum of 36 to get in and the highest score you can get is a 99. I scored a 96 (really, no {censored}tin') but they wouldn't let me in b/c I couldn't hear some high pitched beeps. No exceptions.

 

Anyways, seeing how the war(s) in the Mid East have turned out and now understanding that we really don't belong in Iraq (*puts on flame suit*) I feel fortunate I'm not out there right now.

 

BTW I really don't think my high pitch hearing loss affects my music.

[blue2blue]

I should think a guy who tried to enlist should probably have a right to his own opinion, if anyone does.

 

[Beck]

Nowadays they have the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (called ASVAB for short). It was a 3 hour test sitting in front of a computer screen with everything from reading comprehension to algebra to questions about car parts. The army requires a minimum of 36 to get in and the highest score you can get is a 99. I scored a 96 (really, no {censored}tin') but they wouldn't let me in b/c I couldn't hear some high pitched beeps. No exceptions. Anyways, seeing how the war(s) in the Mid East have turned out and now understanding that we really don't belong in Iraq (*puts on flame suit*) I feel fortunate I'm not out there right now. BTW I really don't think my high pitch hearing loss affects my music.

 

That's nuts! One intense firefight and you can't hear those beeps anyway.

[alcohol]

 

I can hear you fine. I just can't make out what you're saying. Could you face me when you talk and not cover your mouth? Thanks. What scares me is that there'll be some little bit of dialog on a TV show that slips by and I'm, like, What'd he say? So I rewind it (love the DVR cable box) and play it again. And still not make it out. By this time, I'm trying to read lips, too, and thinking, man, is this ADR dialog -- the lips aren't in sync with what they're saying, looks like... but if it is, you'd think they would have tried to make it intelligible. So I'll wind back and forth and, damn, but, like, 2/3 of the time, I never figure out what the blinkin' hell they said. It doesn't happen much with older shows (I watch a lot of old movies and re-runs) -- and, oddly, I don't really notice it much with, say, Robert Altman movies (infamous for their overlapping, supposedly hard-to-follow dialog, which apparently drove the studios nuts at first) but I swear that it happens all the time on Law & Order (practically the only new show I'm watching these days). Anyhow...

 

 

Some big time movies have the dialog mixed poorly or is articulated poorly. It's not you. If you can hear some movies clearly and not others, that's the proof. Mention that on a forum with guys who mix movies and mention specific one's and you'll be attacked like a heretic. They'll swear you need an expensive 5.1 system and it's all your fault.

[Etienne Rambert]

 

Some big time movies have the dialog mixed poorly or is articulated poorly. It's not you. If you can hear some movies clearly and not others, that's the proof. Mention that on a forum with guys who mix movies and mention specific one's and you'll be attacked like a heretic. They'll swear you need an expensive 5.1 system and it's all your fault.

 

 

The old movies were mixed in mono weren't they? How are the new movies mixed? What happens on the newer stuff? They're just poorly done? Or is there a flaw in the technology? Are those engineers' ears already going bad?

 

I'm a big fan of old AM mono. The sound of strings on an old TV set, sends me into a swoon of nostalgia. I have two 8 bit Kawai K-1 synths that have

a string pad patch like that. Very special sound, mono well done.

[coyote-1]

I hear very well most times. But I have trouble picking particular voices out of a noisy environment.

 

It is of course related to the seven different tones of tinnitus that ring in my ears. But since most conversation amounts to something like:

DEBBIE: "Did you hear what Janice did at the party last night?"

LISA: "Yes, Priscilla told me all about it! I can't believe it - I had to tell Carmen right away!"

 

I don't feel I'm missing too much.

[Magpel]

 

I hear very well most times. But I have trouble picking particular voices out of a noisy environment. It is of course related to the seven different tones of tinnitus that ring in my ears

 

 

That's me too -- a fairly minor "notch at 2.5 KHz" (That's exactly what the audiologist called it, and I said, "What's the Q?"). It seems to me that 2.5 is about where a lot of the clarity and definition of speech lives, because, in noisy environments, I hear people's voices fine, but I miss a lot of attack...

 

And then the tinnitus...don't like the tinnitus much at all.

 

Another audiologist I spoke with is having me sleep, work, and spend as much time possible in the presence of a low-level noise source, but says make sure that the ringing is still audible, still floating just above the noise source. This, apparently, teaches the brain NOT to privilege the tinnitus ringing.

 

Problem for me is that I am in the a bit of a middle-aged gigging renaissance right now, loving the hell out of it. And I can't perform with earplugs--although I don't own the really good customized ones. I doubt I'll ever be able to sing with earplugs in, but I really even hate the slight feeling of dislocation they introduce to the act of playing guitar or bass.

[coyote-1]

Congrats on the renaissance! I'm experiencing something similar. Funny how that goes....

 

I also forego earplugs. I'm willing to live with the consequences. As for the constant ringing, it's not evident unless a room is absolutely quiet.

 

That's me too -- a fairly minor "notch at 2.5 KHz" Problem for me is that I am in the a bit of a middle-aged gigging renaissance right now, loving the hell out of it. And I can't perform with earplugs--

 

[Will Chen]

I think I need to get a check up as I have a fair ammount of difficultly understanding people when there's a lot of background noise and I'm often accused of being a loud talker.

[alcohol]

I just got a pair of musician's earplugs. 9db and 15 db reduction. Unlike over the counter earplugs, Hearos, etc., I don't feel these handicap my hearing at all while playing. I'm going to see if I can get the 25 db filters for venues that have extremely loud shows.

[kurfu]

I always turn on the captions when watching TV...

Really wish I would have started wearing earplugs years ago...

[Anderton]

I've gotten to the point where on airplanes, I wear noise-canceling headphones but don't play any music through them. I noticed that my hearing was not right for about 24 hours after flying...I found this out when I got off a plane and went right into mixing, came back the next day, and realized it was waaay bright. That was pretty scary, and I realized it was just playing on stage that required earplugs.

 

I also wear earplugs when walking around midtown New York. Between the car horns, jackhammers, etc., you can get some pretty nasty and unexpected transients.

 

It's worth the bucks to get "musician's earplugs." I haven't used these myself, but I hear they're good. Anyone have any experience with them?

[chugheshc2]

earplugs on the trains here,

earplugs on airplanes (anderton - you do realize you are fatiguing your hearing with the active suppression headphones, even if there is nothing playing through them, right?)

earplugs at rehearsal,

earplugs at live shows,

earplus when using lawn equipment/tools.

-20db really, really helps later.

I do use an ipod, but with shure in ears, and never above half volume.

I wish I had realized how dangerous noise was when I was younger.

need to buy some stock in hearing aid companies.

C.

[Hard Truth]

"What scares me is that there'll be some little bit of dialog on a TV show that slips by and I'm, like, What'd he say?"

 

When that happens I turn on the closed captioing or, on a DVD, the subtitles. Usually it is caused by mumbling, too much music and/or sound effects or sloppy editing. I'm sure it is getting worse and has nothing to do with me getting older.

[Lucky #9]

I play my guitar/sound processors through headphones at night quite a bit after all others are asleep. I always put a little stretched out, then rounded up cotton in my ears :poke: to diffuse the sound and prevent it from blasting my eardrums, even though I don't play loudly. It definitely helps.

 

When I go to a music store like Guitar Center, or out to a bar at night, I always have cotton balls with me to save my hearing.

 

Loud music to me is nothing but noise.

[Anderton]

 

(anderton - you do realize you are fatiguing your hearing with the active suppression headphones, even if there is nothing playing through them, right?)

 

 

I'm not aware of that...can you elaborate? Thanks!

 

Craig

[js1]

 

It's worth the bucks to get "musician's earplugs." I haven't used these myself, but I hear they're good. Anyone have any experience with them?

 

 

They're uh, OK. I bought a set as an emergency backup, and they're serviceable. Not nearly as nice as the custom ones. For cheapies, these are really good: http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er20.aspx They're made by the same people that make the inserts for the custom plugs. I bought 7 pairs and gave them to my wife, kids (who are now going to concerts), and friends.

 

js