Want a Better Listener? Protect Those Ears

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Want a Better Listener? Protect Those Ears By JOYCE COHEN

For football fans, the indelible image of last month's Super Bowl might have

been quarterback Drew Brees's fourth-quarter touchdown pass that put the New

Orleans Saints ahead for good. But for audiologists around the nation, the

highlight came after the game — when Mr. Brees, in a shower of confetti, held

aloft his 1-year-old son, Baylen.

The boy was wearing what looked like the headphones worn by his father's coaches

on the sideline, but they were actually low-cost, low-tech earmuffs meant to

protect his hearing from the stadium's roar.

Specialists say such safeguards are critical for young ears in a deafening

world. Hearing loss from exposure to loud noises is cumulative and irreversible;

if such exposure starts in infancy, children can live " half their lives with

hearing loss, " said Fligor, director of diagnostic audiology at Children's

Hospital Boston.

" This message needs to be conveyed to parents over and over again, " Dr. Fligor

said. " If a child attends only one loud sporting event, it isn't a big deal. But

for those kids who will be going to football games throughout their lives, as

Drew Brees's kids will, it's a very big deal. A young, tender ear may not be

able to withstand damage. "

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, more

than 15 minutes of exposure to 100 decibels is unsafe. The noise in a football

stadium can reach 100 to 130 decibels.

And noise that is potentially dangerous to an adult is even more dangerous to a

child, said Levi A. Reiter, head of the audiology program at Hofstra University,

who also has a private audiology practice in Brooklyn.

Because a young child's ear canal is much smaller than an older child's or an

adult's, Dr. Reiter said, the sound pressure entering the ear is greater. An

infant might perceive a sound as 20 decibels louder than an older child or an

adult. The shorter length of the ear canal increases dangerous noise levels in

the higher frequencies, which are crucial to language development.

Awareness of the problem is spotty, audiologists say. Even if concertgoers know

about damage from loud music, few children are wearing protective gear at

sporting events, parades or fireworks displays, or around high-decibel

motorcycles and snowmobiles.

It's a hard message to convey. Hearing loss, which accumulates slowly over a

lifetime, is neither painful nor disfiguring, so it goes unnoticed.

Glasser, an audiologist in Great Neck, N.Y., says the stigma attached to hearing

aids — often considered a sign of age or weakness — seems to carry over to

hearing protection.

And while adults may be able to escape from uncomfortably loud noise, " when you

are a toddler in your parents' arms or a stroller, you can't walk away, " said

Nadler, assistant executive director of the Center for Hearing and

Communication, formerly the League for the Hard of Hearing. Nor are they likely

to articulate it if they are feeling aftereffects of loud noise exposure, which

include sensations of fullness or muffling, or the ringing sounds known as

tinnitus.

But protecting the hearing of very young children is not easy. Earplugs are too

big for tiny ear canals and too easy to put into the mouth, where they pose a

risk of choking. They are also hard to insert — even adults do not always insert

their own earplugs correctly.

Enter protective headgear, like the earmuffs worn by Baylen Brees. Sold by a

number of companies (Baylen's came from Peltor), they include lightweight

foam-filled ear cups, weigh less than half a pound and typically cost $20 to

$30.

Most are not meant for infants, but Baby Banz sells earmuffs for babies 6 months

and older. Though they are adjustable, they may still be too loose for younger

babies, said Shari , the company's North American operations manager,

adding that earmuff sales rose 40 percent after the Super Bowl.

More than half of customers have special needs, like autism or sensory

disorders, Ms. said. For other children, the purchasers are typically

grandparents, who sometimes say that their grandchildren cover their ears at

fireworks or air shows, or that they themselves suffer from hearing loss.

The use of hearing protection " can make the experience enjoyable instead of

having the baby crying and you don't know why, " said Ms. Nadler, of the Center

for Hearing and Communication.

Often, she added, limiting a child's noise exposure is a matter of common sense.

It might be best to leave the baby home with a sitter.

" We need to look at noise as something that is dangerous, " Ms. Nadler said,

" like sharp tools or a hot stove. "

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/02/health/02baby.html