The men and women who serve our country in uniform too often cope with debilitating mental, physical, and emotional difficulties after their service has ended. Within the continuing dialogue about veteran’s healthcare, the most commonly diagnosed disability is often relatively overlooked: Hearing loss and tinnitus.
Even if you factor in age and occupation, there’s a 30% higher chance of veterans having significant hearing impairment compared to non-veterans. Hearing loss, related to military service, has been reported at least back to World War 2, but it’s much more prevalent in veterans who have served more recently. Recent veterans, who are also, generally, among the youngest former service members, are four times more likely than non-veterans to endure severe hearing impairment.
Why is The Risk of Hearing Impairment Greater For Service Personnel?
Two words: Exposure to noise. Some vocations are clearly louder than others. For example, a librarian will be working in a fairly quiet setting. Thet would likely be exposed to decibel levels ranging from a whisper (about 30 dB) to normal conversation (60 dB).
At the other end of the sonic scale, for civilians at least, let’s say you’re a construction worker, and you work on a job site that’s in the city. Sounds you’d continuously hear (heavy traffic, about 85 dB) or sporadically (an ambulance siren’s about 120 dB) are at unsafe levels, and that’s only background noise. Sounds louder than 85dB (from power tools to heavy equipment) are common on construction sites according to research.
As loud as a heavy construction site is, active military personnel are regularly exposed to much louder noises. This is certainly true in combat settings, where troops hear sounds like gunfire (150 dB), hand grenades (158 dBA), and artillery (180 dB). And it’s not quiet at military bases either. Indoor engine rooms are very loud and the deck of an aircraft carrier can be as loud as 130 – 160 dB. For aviators, noise levels are high also, with helicopters being well above 100 dB and jets and other planes also being well above 100 dB. Another worry: Some jet fuels, according to one study, interrupt the auditory process triggering hearing impairment.
And as a 2015 study of hearing loss amongst military personnel adeptly points out, for the men and women who serve our country, it’s not a choice, it’s a duty. So that they can complete a mission or carry out everyday duties, they have to bear with noise exposure. And although hearing protection is standard issue, many of the sounds just discussed are so loud that even the best-performing hearing protection isn’t enough.
How Can Veterans Treat Hearing Loss?
Noise related hearing loss can be eased with hearing aids even though it can’t be cured. The loss of high-frequency sound is the most prevalent type of hearing loss among veterans and this kind of impairment can be treated with specialized hearing aids. Tinnitus can’t be cured, but as it’s often a symptom of another problem, treatment options are also available.
In serving our country, veterans have already made lots of sacrifices. They shouldn’t have to sacrifice their hearing too.