To be heard, sound energy has to be strong enough to bend tiny hair cells in the cochlea, a part of the inner ear. But loud noise can damage these hair cells. A small amount of damage will have little effect on your hearing.  But repeated exposure to loud noise will continue to damage these hair cells, and eventually, the cochlea can’t relay sound messages to the brain as well as it used to. If there’s nothing else you take away from this blog, remember this: Unlike damage to other parts of your body, inner ear damage never heals. Any damage done is permanent. Those hairs never grow back and, over time, as more and more hair cells get damaged, your hearing will get irretrievably worse and worse. The key is the amount of time you are around loud noise. The longer you are around it, the more damage it will do. That’s why some professions, like construction workers, factory workers, policemen, and military personnel experience more hearing loss.