Can Noise-induced Hearing Loss Make Tough Men Cry?

Yes, it can. Worn down by the challenges of noise-induced hearing loss and tortured by tinnitus, tough men do cry. In support meetings and presentations, I have seen the eyes of strong, determined guys well up with tears. They suddenly felt vulnerable. They worried about their jobs and families, their social lives and their future. 

Statements from people at the height of their professional lives

· “I had no idea of how devastating this is,” said a truck driver. He admitted that he actually enjoyed the ruckus of the engine break. Weather permitting, he kept the window open to get the full effect. Now he could hardly hear in one ear and tinnitus drove him berserk. He hated how it all affected his family life.

· A distraught motorcycle enthusiast wondered about his dispatcher job. He had removed the mufflers from his machine because “noise pretty much makes the ride.” And he rode miles and miles. And he rode often. Now he had trouble understanding phone conversations and was afraid of making errors due to misunderstandings. 

·  A water treatment plant engineer had suffered a near deafness in one of his unprotected ears due to a “surprise” mega water hammer in a pipe. He blamed himself for disobeying Safety Hearing Protection rules.

Poison to the ears 

In our society, the attitude towards excessively loud sound is both toxic and uninformed.  The myth that noise is entertaining and fun does not seem to die. There are still those who believe that ears become immune or resistant to loud noise. They do not!

In reality, loud noise is poison to the ears that destroys hearing. It ages the ears prematurely and in an accelerated fashion – for adults and children alike!  

It’s never too late

Although the damage is permanent and cumulative, it is never too late to change one’s bias towards loud sound. The challenge is NOT to get any worse and to preserve the hearing that is left. So,

· Get out of denial and self-blame and confront reality

· Get help, starting with a professional hearing evaluation 

· Learn how to protect the ears effectively wherever it is loud and use hearing protection consistently – on and off the job. 

· Learn about technology such as hearing aids, assistive devices, smartphone apps—anything that can improve hearing and understanding speech. 

As the saying goes: “A bend in the road is not the end of the road, unless you fail to make the turn.” (Helen Keller) And the time to make a much-needed course correction is NOW.  

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For Hearing Safety presentations, please see my website. Contact me at [email protected]

To learn about ears and hearing, please see my book “What Did You Say?”— now in its second, updated edition. Also available on Kindle