Protect your hearing!

Did you know that even everyday sounds like the lawn mower, blender, vacuum cleaner etc., could be damaging your hearing? Sound pressure is measured in decibels and anything over 85 decibels damages the little hairs in your inner ear that relay sound. A good way to tell if a sound could be damaging is if you have trouble carrying on a normal conversation without having to raise your voice.

Here is a chart showing the decibels

Sound	Decibels (db)
Very faint, rustling leaves	5
Whisper	20
Rainfall	50
Typical speech	60
Washing machine	75
Busy city traffic	85
Hair dryer	90
Leaf blower, rock concert, chainsaw	110
Ambulance, jack hammer	120
Jet plane from 100 feet	130
Fireworks, gunshot	140
12-gauge shotgun	16

This chart really got me thinking about the everyday sounds our kids are hearing and the damage that could be occurring. From now on I am going to make sure my son wears ear protection when he mows the lawn. The chart also gives me sound evidence (no pun intended) to show him when I ask him to turn down his music or video game.

Kind of makes you want to keep a set of ear plugs handy when you make your smoothies doesn't it? I seriously cringe when I think of the amount of decibels a smoke detector going off has, ...it must be off the chart :0

Happy Hearing,

Monicka