Hearing Loss And Deafness Increasing Amongst Children

Recent Statistics Show The World Is Louder and More Dangerous For Children’s Hearing.

It has long been thought that noise-induced hearing loss is a problem for adults, not children. However, research by US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that over 12 per cent of American children aged between six and 19 years have hearing loss caused by noise, and that the loss is permanent for around five per cent of them.

A new international company has been formed by Mr Daniel Gibney who invented earmuffs for children to prevent hearing loss

"Children who develop hearing loss will find it much more difficult than children who have normal hearing to learn vocabulary, grammar, word order, idiomatic expressions, and other aspects of verbal communication," said Mr Daniel Gibney, CEO - Em's 4 Kids

"This is a very serious issue that is easily preventable if parents are educated and take precautions.

"We are living in a louder world, with issues of traffic noise, machinery noise, aircraft, population congestion and surprisingly high levels of noise at concerts and sporting events are contributing to the increase of hearing loss in children," Gibney said.

"Furthermore, parents activities around the house, whether it's a loud television, stereo or home theatre, these are seriously detrimental to safe hearing for children and is causing deafness," Gibney concludes.

Education and prevention is the key. It is becoming increasing necessary for parents to provide ear-muffs for their children.

Em's 4 Kids was started due to a belief that hearing is precious and something needing to be protected. Children should be taught the dangers of noise exposure and instructed to use hearing protection when necessary. Em's 4 Kids believe that if children are taught from a young age that their hearing is precious, and can be protected from excessively loud noises, they will be more likely to look after their hearing as they move into their teenage years.

More than a third of all hearing loss is attributed to noise: loud music, loud workplaces, loud recreational equipment, due to these things people are losing their hearing at a younger age than they were 30 years ago.

Robyn Rossi Superintendent of an emergency response group - St John Ambulance states "Extremely noisy environments may result in everlasting hearing loss. This is known as noise-induced hearing loss.

"Listening to loud noises for very long time frames can harm the hair cells inside the inner ear. Noise-induced hearing problems normally develop slowly but surely, and painlessly. It only takes one exposure to an exceptionally loud sound, for example a car engine(eg Top Fuel dragster), may cause a sudden loss of hearing or deafness," she said,.

"This is what's called an acoustic trauma. Noise induced hearing loss is the number one cause of deafness, yet it is easily preventable by using hearing protection, such as a pair of good ear muffs or ear plug," Rossi concluded.