Vacations and healthcare: The value of hearing protection

The events of the end of the year, which are added to the FIFA World Cup that takes place at this time in an unusual way, arouse the desire for celebration among the population. Festivities take place not only with songs and jumps, but also with elements such as fireworks or loud music that can affect hearing if the necessary care is not taken into account.

Although there is more awareness regarding the use of these devices, since they have decreased significantly over the years, it is very difficult to eradicate them completely. Speech therapist Maria Agustina Leroux warned in an interview with Radio University About the problem that fireworks pose, not only to hearing, but also to other aspects such as vision or skin, as they can cause burns or injury.

At the hearing level, it has a very high intensity that is not supported by the human ear. The specialist explained: “Our ears can withstand an intensity of up to 85-90 decibels, and when we talk about fireworks, we are talking about more than 140 decibels, and it can reach 170 decibels.” This can cause damage that lasts over time or manifest as a stuffy ear sensation or ringing.

However, Leroux emphasized, the tolerance of these voices differs from person to person: “We don’t all tolerate the same thing in the same way. Public consultations generally increase because we live, in itself, in a noisier world.” Prolonged use of headphones, for example, also affects hearing.

To take care of hearing health, what can be done is to “try to avoid prolonged exposure to sounds whose intensity exceeds 80 or 85 decibels.” “People who work in noisy situations and environments, who cannot avoid it because it is their job, should be provided with hearing protection, headphones that can dampen and help reduce the consequences,” recommended a speech pathologist from the GAES Amplifón team.

The recommended headphones are the so-called “over the ear” headphones that cover the entire ear to muffle external noise and thus avoid raising the volume to cover it with sound. However, Leroux emphasized, using these devices at very high intensity and for long hours “in the long run has consequences.”

“Prevention is the best we can do, because sometimes, when the problem is present, we can find different kinds of solutions, but it is always necessary to try to prevent it. The professional advised that there are situations that we can prevent, and there are others that unfortunately are not, but the use of games Fireworks are something we can avoid.”