Can You Hear Me Now?

RecapturetheGlory had a rough time with the crowd noise at Churchill Downs during the festivities leading up to the race. He bucked in the paddock and lost his rider coming into the tunnel. By the time he got to the starting gate, he had, in a sense, already run. His trainer reports that the next time he runs, he will have cotton in his ears to muffle the loud noises.

That's actually a practice more of us should consider. Rock concerts, i-pods, leaf blowers, power saws and lawnmowers all take their toll on our sense of hearing. Once a year, I attend a function to support the National Organization for Hearing Research and once a year I am reminded how often we take our hearing for granted.

How loud is too loud? If you can hear your airplane seat mate's i-pod, then it is too loud. If you can hear the television from the next room through the walls of your motel, then the person next store has already done damage to their hearing. You should always provide your teens with earplugs when they go to concerts. All of the rockers still rocking from the 60s and 70s (Mick Jagger among them) are almost deaf.

Just imagine not being able to hear the phone ring, the baby cry or the orchestra create melody. Or more importantly, the sound of traffic approaching when you are walking, a fire engine siren or the fire alarm. These are all real possibilities for those of us who take our hearing for granted.

So take a moment to listen to what you will be missing if you turn up the volume. And if its already too loud, get your hearing checked by a reliable audiologist. There are amazing advances in hearing aids these days and no one live in silence.