Do Loud Noises Affect Our Hearing?

Do loud noises bother you? Do going to concerts or football games cause a certain ringing in your ear?

Loud noises typically can affect people’s hearing. It can damage our hair cells, membrane, or other parts of our ears. Exposure to extremely loud noise over time can cause temporary or permanent hearing loss. In fact, damage to any part of your ear can lead to hearing loss.

Loud noise is harmful to the cochlea (the inner ear), and exposure to loud noise over a period of time can hurt your cochlea. 

The hair in our ear is used to detect sounds. If the hair is damaged, it can change our hearing. For this to happen, around 30% to 50% of hair would need to be damaged for it to affect your hearing.

If you've been to a football game or concert, you know that once the event is over, you may experience ringing in your ear or sounds become muffled. This is usually temporary. Typically, after a while, your ear recovers, and your hearing goes back to normal; but, if you’re constantly around loud noises, it could lead to permanent hearing loss.  

See a doctor right away if hearing doesn’t fully recover. Take precaution, ear care is important.