General Practicioners Often Miss Hearing Loss

A new Austrailian study has recently found that hearing loss-- especially age-based hearing loss-- is often missed by general practicioners.

One adult in five and over half of those 80 and older experience hearing loss that should be treated. Some reasons suggested by the study for the missed diagnosis or referral include: time constraints, inadequate remuneration or lack of awareness of simple tools to identify hearing loss. Prof Mitchell, the head of the study, said internet-based education programs could be used to educate GPs about the importance of early identification of age-related hearing loss.

As with most chronic problems, patients need to advocate for themselves. This means asking your physician about any hearing problems that you experience at your appointment.

The 60 / 60 Rule

Most of us like to listen to music. iPods and MP3 players have made this much easier to listen to just what we want to hear.

The problem is, most of us are listening too loud.

Did you know that earphones turned up to maximum can actually exceed the noise level that you would hear at a rock concert? In fact, recent studies at Boston University have shown that when you use earphones other than those that come with the mp3 player (unfortunately, these are the ones that usually sound the best!), sound levels can reach as high as 139 dB-- about the noise of a jet airplane on take off! It only takes a few minutes of exposure to those levels of sound to start hearing loss.

The recommended rule of thumb is no more than 60 minutes at no louder than 60% of maximum output. Keep that in mind and your more likely to keep your hearing!