{"id":1463,"date":"2022-05-20T18:12:23","date_gmt":"2022-05-20T23:12:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/?p=1463"},"modified":"2022-05-20T18:12:25","modified_gmt":"2022-05-20T23:12:25","slug":"how-can-farmers-protect-their-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/how-can-farmers-protect-their-hearing\/","title":{"rendered":"How Can Farmers Protect Their Hearing?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Occupational hearing loss refers to hearing loss that is caused by exposure to <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/hearing-loss\/noise-induced\/\" target=\"_blank\">hazardous noise levels<\/a> while on the job. According to the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/niosh\/topics\/ohl\/default.html\" target=\"_blank\">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>, an estimated 22 million workers are exposed to hazardous noise each year. Of these 22 million, many are farmers. We review the relationship between farming and hearing loss below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Does Loud Sound Cause Damage?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/farming-hearing-loss-02-1280x918.jpg\" alt=\"Healthy young soybean crop in field at dawn, with stunning sky.\" class=\"wp-image-1465\" width=\"325\" height=\"233\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/farming-hearing-loss-02-1280x918.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/farming-hearing-loss-02-768x551.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/farming-hearing-loss-02-1536x1102.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/farming-hearing-loss-02.jpg 2044w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 325px) 100vw, 325px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Within the inner ear is the cochlea, which is a snail-shaped organ lined with tiny hair cells called stereocilia. The stereocilia\u2019s job is to convert incoming soundwaves into electrical energy that travels via the auditory nerve to the brain to be interpreted as sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When dangerously loud sounds pass through the ears, it can damage or destroy the stereocilia. This type of damage is irreversible, and the result is permanent sensorineural hearing loss. The threshold that is considered safe is 85 dB \u2013 about the volume of passing highway traffic. Anything louder can cause damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Are Farmers at Risk of Occupational Hearing Loss?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>According to one <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/21368439\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">study<\/a>, farmers are frequently exposed to excessive noise, ranking among the top three occupations and industries with the highest risk for <a href=\"https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/hearing-loss\/treatment-options\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">hearing loss<\/a>. This is due to exposure to the sounds of livestock and machinery, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Grain dryers<\/li><li>Tractors<\/li><li>Combines<\/li><li>Chainsaws<\/li><li>Firearms<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Can Farmers Protect Their Hearing? &nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Farmers can follow these tips to protect their hearing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Wear hearing protection. <\/strong>Disposable foam earplugs, protective earmuffs and custom-molded earplugs from <span class=\"company-name \">Lake Jackson ENT &amp; Med Spa<\/span> can provide the level of protection you need against livestock and machinery. Be sure to keep your hearing protection on hand or wherever you need it most to ensure you actually use it.<\/li><li><strong>Reduce sound levels.<\/strong> You can do this by investing in machinery with lower decibel outputs that are open rather than enclosed and performing routine maintenance like fixing mufflers, lubricating bearings and replacing worn-out parts.<\/li><li><strong>Limiting daily noise exposure.<\/strong> The work needs to get done, which means you can\u2019t always walk away from it for the day, but you can take listening breaks. Try to rest your ears for ten minutes every hour to prevent noise-induced hearing loss.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information, contact <a href=\"https:\/\/texasfarmbureau.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Texas Farm Bureau<\/a>. To schedule an appointment with an audiologist, call <span class=\"company-name \">Lake Jackson ENT &amp; Med Spa<\/span> today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><ul class=\"related-posts\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/essential-summer-care-for-your-hearing-aids\/\" class=\"related-post\">Essential Summer Care for Your Hearing Aids<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/three-reasons-its-important-to-treat-hearing-loss-in-seniors\/\" class=\"related-post\">Three Reasons It\u2019s Important To Treat Hearing Loss in Seniors<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/understanding-and-protecting-the-hearing-process\/\" class=\"related-post\">Understanding and Protecting the Hearing Process<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Occupational hearing loss refers to hearing loss that is caused by exposure to hazardous noise levels while on the job. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 22 million workers are exposed to hazardous noise each year. Of these 22 million, many are farmers. We review the relationship between farming and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1465,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Within the inner ear is the cochlea, which is a snail-shaped organ lined with tiny hair cells called stereocilia.","_seopress_robots_index":"","schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","position":"","credentials":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hearing-loss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakejacksonent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}