Preventing Sudden Deafness (Acoustic Trauma)

The best way to deal with acoustic trauma is to wear hearing protection so that the inner ear is never exposed to loud sound. How loud is too loud? Sounds louder than 90 decibels (dB, a measurement of the loudness or strength of vibration of a sound) may cause such intense vibration that the inner ear is damaged, especially if the sound is prolonged.

Ninety decibels is about the loudness of a large truck about 5 yards (5 meters) away. A jackhammer emits sounds of about 120 decibels from 3 feet (1 meter) away, and a jet engine emits sound of about 130 decibels from 100 feet (30 meters) away. Motorcycles, snowmobiles, and similar engines range around 85-90 decibels, and a rock concert may approach 100 decibels. A general rule is if you need to shout to be heard, the sound is in the range that can damage hearing.

Every 3 decibels of loudness doubles the amount of energy forced into the ear. Sitting near the front row at a rock concert forces 32 times as much damaging energy into the ear as riding a motorcycle, and standing on the landing tarmac next to an arriving jet does 1,000 times as much damage to the ear as sitting up front at a rock concert.

The louder the sound, the shorter the time needed to cause damage. Continuous noise is always more damaging than intermittent noise. Prevention is always better than treatment.

When prevention is impossible and treatment is necessary, the rule is the sooner, the better. If you can't avoid exposure to loud noise, then you must take immediate steps to treat it. Ideally, treatment should begin within 12 hours of trauma.
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