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May 9, 2006
Hearing losses gaining on younger people
At 37, drummer John Morse had grown tired of the constant ringing in his ears, especially when he laid his head on the pillow at night. He went to United Rehabilitation Services in Riverside on Monday to have earplugs made that he can pop in when he slips behind the drums.
"I figure I'm too young to go deaf," said Morse of Lebanon, a member of the rock cover band Endive.
Audiologists at the agency's Berry Hearing Center — which held a ribbon cutting to its expanded center Monday — are seeing hearing losses in younger people.
At least 31.5 million Americans have hearing loss, defined as having hearing difficulty in one or both ears without the use of a hearing aid, according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
Berry Hearing Center clinical manager Joanne Crowson believes years of exposure to rock concerts, booming stereos and loud machinery play a big part in why more middle-aged people are experiencing hearing loss.
Crowson cringes when she sees teenagers drive by with their car stereos cranked up loud enough to hear from the next block.
She warned that people could see the results of that abuse "when you get older."
By Margo Rutledge Kissell
http://www.daytondailynews.com/localnews/content/localnews/daily/0509hearing.html
Posted by 4HL on May 9, 2006 4:47 AM
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