All the ear's delicate structures suffer from noise. The National Institutes of Health held a Consensus Development Conference on Noise and Hearing Loss in January 1990. This damage may produce temporary or permanent hearing loss that is not reversible by available medical or surgical treatment. In the United States, it is estimated that over 10 million of the 28 million people with hearing impairments sustained the damage from loud sounds. This statistic is staggering since hearing damage by noise exposure is preventable in all except accidental exposure cases.
Awareness is the key to avoiding noise-induced hearing loss.
Ear protectors should be used while operating noisy equipment such as tractors, lawn mowers, power tools or recreational vehicles. Ear plugs should be worn at such events as rock concerts and at indoor sporting events with a high level of crowd noise. Personal stereos should not be audible to a person standing next to the wearer.