How loud?!

I'm sure I can speak for a lot of you when I say that we take our hearing for granted. It is thought that anything above 85 decibels can be damaging and could cause permanent damage. To be honest this is something that never crossed my mind until I only had 1 working ear available. Crazy things then start running through your head...what if this one stops working too? What if the hearing in this ear will eventually be "used up" leaving me with nothing...or what if I get another unlucky ear infection?

I was so conscious of it being damaged that everyday things that I have done for years started to change, I gave up my job as a dance teacher due to excessive noise in the studio, stopped going to the cinema, stopped going under water, turned the radio down in the car and even started reading more to reduce the effects of constant "life noise" (If you've read my other blogs you will also see how reducing these things helped my everyday fatigue)

After a little bit of research I was truly amazed at how loud these everyday noises were:

• Taking a shower, traffic noise, flushing the loo and vacuuming = 70 decibels
• Food processor, hairdryer, or a passing truck = 80 decibels
• Lawn mower, power drill, loud office environment/phone = 90 decibels
• Nightclub, ambulance siren, live band and driving with the window down = 100 decibels
• Large thunder clap, popping a balloon, and fireworks = 120+ decibels 

To put this in to perspective, many of the mobile devices that children use nowadays are 105 decibels on the highest volume, that is 100 times more intense than 85 decibels! The impact of noise can build up over your lifetime, if you are exposed to loud noises on a regular everyday basis, your risk of hearing damage/loss increases over time. The World health organisation recommends no exposure above 120 decibels for children.

If only 1 person turns down the TV, stands back from the speaker in the nightclub, or mutes the iPhone app then iv helped!

Your hearing is precious.

Think before you repeat...

After nearly 2 years being half deaf you would think that I'd have learnt all there is to know....you'd  be wrong! Very rarely does a day go by where I don't hear a new sound, new tinnitus, crackling, popping, the odd bang here and there as well as daily noise, the odd dizzy spell and an occasional ear ache. That's all normal to me now and I've grown used to it over the last year and 11 months (who's counting?!)

But what never ceases to amaze me are peoples attitudes. Don't get me wrong I've been incredibly lucky, supportive friends, co workers, family and a boyfriend who is great, but some people aren't so privileged. After writing a post on a single sided deafness support page on Facebook (a great place to have a rant and a moan with people who totally "get it") it became apparent that SSD sufferers face situations daily, of people who don't believe their situation. Don't get me wrong I've had my fair share of "Oh you really are deaf in that ear?", "maybe if I shout?" as well as the old favorite "when will it come back?"
To read that bosses are saying things such as "just turn up your hearing aid" and in some cases not even believing that a person was deaf, insinuating that they were making the whole thing up to make better use of "selective hearing". (yes we've all heard that one! *eye roll*)

It's hard to believe that in a world so fast paced in so many ways, a simple conversation between 2 people can leave one person feeling hurt, left out, and exhausted just trying to explain a simple diagnosis. When did people become so dismissive? As I said before, I've been incredibly lucky and, although its been a steep learning curve, I've come out the other side stronger and prepared for those type of questions and comments.

This blog has been mainly about awareness as well as helping friends and family understand what/how I hear. Be mindful... next time someone tells you they didn't hear you, don't roll your eyes or say "oh it doesn't matter".
I think I can speak for all when I say, It matters to us!
If I was half blind  and asked you to wear an eye patch, you'd see what I see. With hearing loss that's not possible. An ear plug only cancels out 60% of sound.

The problem is not that the deaf do not hear. The problem is that the hearing world does not listen....