March 3 is World Hearing Day

The World Health Organization has designated March 3 as “World Hearing Day” to raise awareness about the importance of hearing health care.

Think about the last time you saw your primary care doctor for an annual check up.  He or she checked your blood pressure, your weight, your blood sugar, your cholesterol levels, and probably several other health measure.  You may have been reminded to get your colonoscopy or your mammogram.  Did the physician ask you about your ears or your hearing?

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is recommending that they should start asking you about how well you hear.  Read the following statement from the CDC released in February 2017:

Hearing loss is the third most common chronic health condition in the US. Almost twice as many people report hearing loss as report diabetes or cancer. Noise exposure away from your job can damage your hearing just as much as working in a noisy place. Being around too much loud noise—like using a leaf blower or going to loud concerts—can cause permanent hearing loss. And once it’s gone, you can’t get it back! You can have hearing loss before you even notice you’re having problems. Noise is measured in what are called decibels (dB). Over time, listening to loud sounds at high dB levels can cause hearing loss—or other hearing problems like a ringing sound in your ear that won’t go away. The louder a sound is, and the longer you are exposed to it, the more likely it will damage your hearing. The more often you are exposed to loud sounds over time, the more damage occurs. It’s important for healthcare providers to ask about hearing and to screen those who are at risk. 

Healthcare providers can:

• Ask patients about exposure to loud noise and trouble hearing, and examine hearing as part of routine care.
• Provide hearing tests when patients show or report hearing problems, or refer them to a hearing specialist. 
• Explain how noise exposure can permanently damage hearing.
• Counsel patients on how to protect hearing. 

For more information, see:  https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/pdf/2017-02-vitalsigns.pdf

Are you interested in having a baseline hearing test performed to see how your ears match up with your overall wellness?  Call us today at 410-672-1233 (Odenton) or 410-672-1244 (Severna Park).