When you were 16 and cranked up the radio to full volume, you had little thought about how this might damage your health. You just enjoyed the music.
As you got older, you may have indulged in nights out at loud concerts or the movies. It may even be normal for you to have experienced loud noise at work. Still, you didn’t think it had any long-term effects.
You more likely know differently now. Noise-induced hearing loss can appear in children as young as 12. But sound is so powerful it can even be used as a weapon.
Can You Get Ill From Sound?
In a word, yes. Particular sounds can evidently make you ill according to doctors and scientists. This is why.
How Loud Sound Impacts Health
Really loud sounds injure the inner ear. After sound goes through the membrane of the eardrum it’s picked up by little hairs in the ears. Once these small hairs are destroyed, they don’t ever heal or grow back. Many people, as they age, deal with sensorineural hearing loss caused by this.
Dangerous volume begins at 85 decibels for an 8 hour time period. If you’re subjected to over 100 dB, permanent impairment happens within 15 minutes. A loud concert is about 120 decibels, which brings about instantaneous, irreversible damage.
Noises can also affect cardiovascular health. High blood pressure, clogged arteries, obesity, and other vascular issues can be the outcome of increased stress hormones brought on by excessively loud noise. So when individuals who are subjected to loud noise complain about memory loss and headaches, this could explain why. These are directly connected to the health of your cardiovascular system.
Actually, one study revealed that sound volumes that begin to impact the heart, and hormones are as low a 45 decibels. That’s roughly the volume of somebody with a quiet inside voice.
Your Health is Impacted by Some Sound Frequencies – This is How
Cuban diplomats became sick after being subjected to certain sounds several years ago. This sound wasn’t at a very high volume. It could even be blocked out by a television. How could it have made people ill?
The answer is frequency.
High Frequency
High frequency sounds such as the one experienced in Cuba can do appreciable damage at lower volumes.
Have you ever cringed when somebody scratched their nails on a chalkboard? Have you been driven nuts by somebody repeatedly dragging their finger across a folded piece of paper? Does the shrill sound of a violin put you on edge?
If you’ve felt the power of high-pitched sounds, the pain you felt was in fact damage being done to your hearing. If you experienced this for a time, frequently subjected yourself to it, or were exposed at a high volume, then the damage might have become permanent.
Studies have also discovered that damage can happen even if you can’t hear the sound. High-pitched sounds emanating from sensors, trains, machinery, and other man-made devices might be producing frequencies that do damage with too much exposure.
Low Frequency
Your health can also be impacted by infrasound which is extremely low frequency sound. The vibrations can make you feel disoriented and physically sick. Some even get flashes of light and color that are typical in migraine sufferers.
How You Can Safeguard Your Hearing
Be mindful of how you feel about particular sounds. If you’re feeling pain or other symptoms when you’re exposed to particular sounds, limit your exposure. Pain is commonly a warning sign of damage.
In order to understand how your hearing might be changing over time, get in touch with a hearing specialist for an examination.