Several persons often ask the question, can persistent loud noises affect your health negatively? Most studies have shown that it can, and we should take measures to avoid being exposed to persistent loud noises and noise pollution.
How does loud noise affect your health?
Prolonged exposure to certain types of sound can have a major impact on your well-being. Besides being a source of annoyance, they can also have a significant impact on the quality of your health.
Numerous studies have shown the risks of long-term exposure to noise and loud music. There is reason to believe that it is not just the level of sound, but the types of sounds themselves that are to blame.
Negative impacts of disturbing loud sounds include low energy levels, poor performance at work, occupational errors, and an inability to make clear cut decisions. The louder the sounds, the more detrimental and pronounced their effects will be.
According to a study out of Germany’s Mainz University Medical Center, an increasing amount of noise can actually throw your heart out of rhythm, that is atrial fibrillation. This irregular heart beat can lead to blood clots, stroke, and even heart failure.
Loud noise exposure can damage or destroy hair cells found within our hearing organ. About 10,000 tiny hair cells inside our ears are responsible for converting every sound we hear into electrical signals. Those signals then get transferred to the hearing centers in our brains that allow us to appreciate sound, speech and music, while minimizing any unnecessary background noise.
Noise exposure tends to damage the hair cells at the base of the cochlea (the spiral cavity of your inner ear) which results in high frequency hearing loss. Since most of the consonants we speak in English require high frequency hearing to understand, this has a significant impact on one’s ability to understand conversations.
Long or repeated exposure to sounds at or over 85 decibels can bring on what is called noise-induced hearing loss.
In recent years, experts have discovered that loud noise can hurt more than your ears. It can damage the delicate nerve endings that transfer the electrical information from the hair cells (inside your ear) to your brain, potentially causing inflammatory reactions within the brain itself. As a result, there is growing evidence that hearing loss may be linked to a loss of brain function, leading to such disorders as dementia.
Loud noises and sleep
Too much noise can be distracting and stimulating to the brain, making it more difficult to get into a mode of relaxation and ultimately fall asleep. Outside noise, in particular, impedes the quality of your sleep once you do drift off. That will do far more than make you groggy the next day. Poor sleep is linked to long-term health consequences like diabetes, obesity and heart disease.
Loud noise and fertility
Noise pollution, or loud noises, may affect male fertility, but it’s unclear exactly why.
Loud music
Music is a collection of vibrational events which can induce beneficial or harmful bodily and psychological reactions. Contemporary music production and consumption, however, may often produce sensory saturation and/or overload.
Exposure to loud music, especially by young people, has significantly increased in recent years as a result of (a) advancements in technology in terms of personal music players and smart mobile phones, and (b) the streaming of music through these devices. Young people must be made aware of the dangers of being exposed to persistent loud music and loud noises.
How to avoid or decrease exposure to loud noises?
Avoidance might be the best solution, but sometimes it is difficult to achieve this. If you can avoid loud noises, certainly do so. If you live a few feet from the airport, or you live close to the Landsome Cultural Centre, it might not be possible to get away from these loud noises. For noises you simply cannot get away from, invest in earplugs.
You may even want to invest in custom-made musician ear plugs (made by an audiologist) that fit more snugly into the contours of your ear. While they will cost more than the ones you buy off the shelf at your local pharmacy, they will provide more protection for your ears, not to mention your mental and physical health.
Conclusion
Long term exposure to excessive levels of high intensity, low frequency sound, such as that produced by highly amplified bass music or heavy metal, airplanes, and others, cannot only be physically harmful, but can cause complications that can be very serious. There is no doubt that loud noises and loud music can cause temporary and permanent hearing loss. Listening to any sound at a high volume – more than 89 decibels, or Db(A) – for more than five hours a week can damage hearing permanently over time. It is also thought that inner ear damage, from early noise exposure, can leave your ears more prone to the aging process later in life. Make an effort to avoid exposure to excessive loud noises and loud music. If you cannot please use ear plugs as often as possible.
Ask Your Dr is a health education column and is not a substitute for medical advice from your physician. The reader should consult his or her physician for specific information concerning specific medical conditions. While all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that all information presented is accurate, as research and development in the medical field are ongoing, it is possible that new findings may supersede some data presented.
Dr Brett Hodge MB BS DGO MRCOG is an obstetrician/Gynaecologist and Family Doctor with over thirty-six years in clinical practice. Dr Brett Hodge has a medical practice in The Johnson Building in The Valley (Tel: 264 497 5928).
