The Total Hearing Care Difference

The Sounds That Steal Silence: Preventable Hearing Loss Explained

• Dr. Jill Copley • Episode 16

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0:00 | 9:43

How Does Noise Exposure Affect Hearing Over Time?

Your ears remember every loud moment, even when you don’t. We sit down with Dr. Jill Copley to unpack how everyday noise—concerts, stadiums, power tools, and sudden blasts—silently chips away at hearing and why prevention is the most powerful tool you have. From OSHA’s adult exposure limits to the lower safe levels for children, we sort out what the numbers really mean and why some people experience damage even at so-called safe volumes.

Together, we map the physical story inside the ear: hair cells pushed beyond their bending point, synapses fraying under metabolic stress, and subtle changes that standard tests can miss. Tinnitus takes center stage as an early warning sign—often showing up after a lively night out or a loud workday—long before clarity fades in conversation. You’ll hear how teens are already showing mild shifts at certain frequencies due to loud music and high-energy venues, and why impulse sounds like gunshots and fireworks can cause harm in a single instant.

Most importantly, we get practical. Learn how to turn risky environments into safer ones with foam plugs, musician filters, and over-ear muffs; how distance and time can slash exposure; and why building the simple habit of carrying earplugs can protect decades of hearing. Whether you work around machinery, love live shows, or just want sharper listening in noisy rooms, this guide gives you the know-how to reduce risk without giving up the sounds you love.

If you found value here, follow the show, share it with a friend who loves concerts, and leave a quick review to help others protect their hearing. Got a question or a story about noise and your ears? Send it our way—we’d love to hear it.

To learn more about Total Hearing Care visit:
https://www.TotalHearingCare.com

Total Hearing Care
Multiple Locations Across the DFW Metroplex
(469) 809-4487

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to the Total Hearing Care Difference, where we help you experience life through better hearing. Hosted by the Experts of Total Hearing Care, a leading private audiology practice serving the DFW Metroplex, we're here to provide guidance on hearing loss, tinnitus, and the latest advancements in audiology. Transform your life through better hearing. Let's get started.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome back, everyone. I'm Sophia Yvette, co-host and producer back in the studio today with Dr. Joe Copley. Dr. Copley, how's it going today?

SPEAKER_02:

Oh, I'm I'm doing well. I'm excited to be here and talk about these interesting uh things you have lined up.

SPEAKER_01:

I know. I'm so excited to be sitting with you again. Now, Dr. Copley, let's kick things off with a big one. How does the noise exposure affect hearing over time?

SPEAKER_02:

So that's a that is a huge question and a very important one. When we look at hearing loss, the one type of loss that we can actually prevent is noise-related loss, meaning that means you're not around noise. So the people that are most exposed to noise as far as being in a career or industrial kind of career tend to be miners, um, construction workers, and in manufacturing. And then others that you might think of that are around loud noise, like being in the military or police officers or people who are uh fire personnel, as well as some things you might not think about, like dentists that are around loud drills. And what happens is you are repeatedly exposed to this noise. And if it's loud enough, it will actually start to harm your hearing. And what it does first is it harms the nerve cells. You may not even notice that you're having any hearing loss, but there's still damage to the system. And some of the first signs are that you might have ringing in your ears that comes and goes and then continues for a while. And then you might notice that you're having more trouble understanding, especially in background noise. And then you will probably start to notice that there's an actual hearing loss. So it's kind of it can be gradual in those kinds of situations, or it can be um if there's a very sudden loud noise, such as I mentioned police officers, if they um shoot their their gun or you shoot your hunting and you shoot um a rifle or something, that can be a very sudden sound and can harm your hearing just right away where you actually notice that something's wrong.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow. Now, can short bursts of loud sound be just as damaging as prolonged exposure?

SPEAKER_02:

Sometimes they can actually be more harmful. Um when we look at OSHA, um, OSHA is who has determined the safe levels of noise. And I'd like to mention that safe levels of noise for adults is different than safe levels of noise for children. Okay, so if I say um just a number 85 decibels at um eight hours of consistent noise is supposedly safe for an adult, that is actually going to be harmful for a child. So I just like our viewers to know there is a difference there. So most of what we'll talk about is adults. And so um you can have constant noise like that. Now, 85 is considered safe, although some people do get hearing loss from that. And so that's just kind of our our maximum. Um, so we really would like it lower than that if we can get it. But then you have sounds that are sudden bursts of sound, as I mentioned, like shotgun blasts. Um, but you also have things like fireworks and you could also have sound like if you've been at a concert and they have a loud sound indoors, those can go up to 120 decibels or louder, and those you may you may get damaged within a second because of it being so loud. So it can be very damaging very quickly, depending on how close you are to that impact of that sound.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh wow. Now, how does the ear physically respond to repeated noise exposure?

SPEAKER_02:

So that's a great question. Um, because you don't start out necessarily with the hearing loss, except when I mentioned those loud sounds. So you have nerve cells, you have membranes in the ear, and what happens is you start to damage those. And with repeated noise over and over and over again, it's going to keep I think of it as knocking down. So you have nerve cells that are sticking up straight, and every time a noise comes through, it's a sound wave and it's a physical wave, and it can change and move those nerve cells. If it's loud enough, it just keeps knocking them down over and over and over. And there's a point at which they just can't respond back to normal again. And so you have that happen, that physical change. But you can also have um protein changes, enzyme changes within the fluids in the ear. And then um you can also have just changes to the nerve itself. And like I said, a lot of those things can cause ringing or tennis. And so um noise exposure, you often have tannus and hearing loss together. Um, and tinnitus may be the first thing you notice.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow. Now, other than tetus, are there any other early warning signs people should watch for?

SPEAKER_02:

I actually think that's the the main one. Um for instance, let's say, have you ever been to a concert and not worn earplugs or ever been to a loud uh bar or restaurant without earplugs? You know, those are very, very noisy, and you may come out of there kind of feeling like, oh, there's some ringing in my ears, or maybe even like a little foggy or a little um not so much lightheaded, but maybe a little off balance, like, wow, that my brain didn't really like that. And that's usually a sign that something has occurred. Now, whether that is complete damage or not, we don't really know for sure yet. But those are the kinds of things that you might notice coming out of a loud situation. Can you recover from that type of damage in your ears? Well, as I mentioned, sometimes you can. Um, those nerve cells will bounce back, but it's at a certain point you're going to have hearing loss. And and uh one of the things I read in preparation for this is that that hearing loss happens very early on. So we test within a certain range of hearing, but there are other ranges of hearing that our equipment just doesn't test. And um, when you look at research at universities or places that have this extra equipment, they can see changes almost right away in both humans and of course animal models. That's usually where they start to look for these things. And so they can see it right away. And one of the things that um I read that was very interesting is teenagers that may listen to loud music or be around loud restaurants or football games or things like that, um, about up to 20 to 30 percent of them are already showing very mild hearing loss at certain frequencies, um, even people as young as that. So the system has a hard time bouncing back. You may think it's bouncing back, but underneath there actually may be damage there.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow. Do you have any final words of wisdom for us today, Dr. Copley, on this subject?

SPEAKER_02:

I think the words of wisdom are if you're going to be in a loud environment, wear hearing protection. Um, there are some roles where you're required to wear hearing protection, like the military. Military was one of the first um career paths that they really decided, hey, we need to have our people wear hearing protection. There's lots of different types of hearing protection, which we'll probably go over in another podcast. Um, but even if you go to a concert, if something seems too loud and you seem to feel it in your head or in your ears, you probably need to be wearing hearing protection.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow, Dr. Copley, well, thank you so much for shedding light on such an important topic for us today. We'll see you next time for more expertise and insights on hearing care. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_02:

I appreciate us talking about this important topic too.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for listening to the Total Hearing Care Difference. If you're in the DFW Metroplex and ready to take the next step toward better hearing, call 469 809 4487 to book an appointment. Or visit totalhearingcare dot com because when you hear better, you live better. See you next time.