Time Travel through the Generations
Many hearing aid technicians get into the business because they have experienced hearing loss along with their moms, dads, grandmas and grandpas. It’s important to keep your brain active and, through sound, this is possible. If you begin to lose your hearing, your speech recognition gets weaker because your brain is not working to hear. In a sense, you are starving your brain with auditory deprivation. Miracle-Ear is here to help. Joe DeSimone owns three hearing centers in the Wilmington, Delaware area, along with a location in Elkton, Maryland. He became interested in auditory education and improvement 20 years ago because his parents and grandparents were hard of hearing. He invites you into Miracle Ear for your free hearing test to see if you are in need of a hearing aid. Wilmington, DE is filled with beautiful nature-filled sounds that you wouldn’t want to tune out.
Hearing technology has dramatically improved through the generations. Let’s take a little journey through time looking at different occupations that have contributed to noise-induced hearing loss today.
· The 1940’s & 1950’s brought noisy occupations like manufacturing, agriculture and construction for the men, while women took on secretarial and support jobs. Exposure to constant and loud noise was prevalent. OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) was not around to regulate noise and most people didn’t understand the effects of noise damage to the eardrum. Soldiers were coming home from war after being exposed to extremely loud explosives. Preventive measures were not taken.
The 1970’s saw such noisy occupations as truck drivers, freight handlers, auto mechanics, rock musicians, carpenters and cleaning service workers take hold with men while typically, women became teachers, typists, factory seamstresses, assembly line workers, cosmetologists and musicians. And the 1980’s brought IT jobs and the stock market.
· The 1990’s and today produce noisy occupations such as welders, garage mechanics, truck drivers, dentists, hair stylists, construction workers, landscapers, aviators and musicians. Fortunately, OSHA has created guidelines for on the job noise levels. Oftentimes, hearing protection is offered by employers and this might help avoid the need for hearing aids in the Wilmington, DE area and all across the country.
Our grandparents, at the time, were fortunate to have the capabilities their grandparents didn’t have – hearing amplification. It began with large trumpet horns and soon became ‘body aids’ where people would wear their hearing aids strapped to their backs or side with a wire traveling to a device put to the ear. Not ideal, but it helped. In Wilmington, DE, hearing aids in the 1980’s and 1990’s progressed to smaller BTE (Behind the Ear) devices. Hearing aids continue to shrink down to almost nothing with CIC (Completely in Canal) devices. Today, technology continues to improve and advance. If you are over the age of 65 or feel you have hearing loss at any age, visit Miracle-Ear to test for a hearing aid in Wilmington, Delaware.