Sound pressure: Measurement of sound
All sounds that reach the ear, including music, speech, noise, etc., can be measured as the pressure of sound waves applied to a certain area – sound pressure. The physical measure of sound pressure is the decibel, abbreviated as dB.
The decibel system is logarithmic (much like the Richter seismic system), and an increase of 20 decibels represents a 10-fold increase in sound pressure.
The human ear can handle a very wide range of sound. From sounds that can just be heard very softly to sounds that can be tolerated 10,000,000 times louder.
Generally, the intensity of tinnitus is about 10 decibels in the auditory range, which is like the ambient noise in a forest on a quiet day. The sound of a person swallowing, about 30 decibels, is 10 times stronger than this sound. But unless one actively listens to it, one cannot hear the sound of swallowing.
The average human verbal communication is around 60 decibels, and the threshold for causing discomfort is 100 decibels. The sound of an electric razor near the ear is typically 90 decibels, while the sound of a Walkman can easily reach 100 decibels.
The discomfort threshold drops to about 65 decibels when hearing allergies are present. And this is the intensity of people’s usual verbal communication. Therefore, auditory allergies often lead to a gradual loss of social interaction.
Hearing is the most important, then vision
The ear is the first fully functional human sensory organ. It works from the time it is not yet born until it stops working at death. It still works at night. You can close your eyes, but not your ears. You can decide what to focus your attention on (such as a conversation in a meeting), but you do not have the ability to decide not to listen to the sounds happening around you.
When you close your eyes, you can easily feel blind. Mimicking deafness is much more difficult, and even the best earplugs can’t completely block out sound. Even astronauts in a vacuum with no sound at all can hear sounds such as breathing and heartbeats made by the body.
In contrast to other disabilities, deafness and hearing impairment are generally not recognized by the people with whom you are expected to communicate. As a result, a deaf person’s failure to respond to a sound that is not heard is often perceived as unfriendly.
Interestingly, most people do not take their hearing very seriously. People more often consider other senses such as sight, taste, touch, etc. to be more important.
This explains why society lacks good hearing communication, especially for young people. But it is hearing that connects humans in a special way, and poor hearing often leads to isolation and retreat from social life.
You can see, feel, and touch objects again and again, but words are lost forever once they are spoken.
Hearing and speech are the most important forms of human communication. The fact that deaf people have great difficulty in learning to speak shows that these two aspects are closely related.
Social acceptance of hearing aids
It is puzzling that hearing impairment is perceived differently in society than diminished vision. People often joke about hearing impairment, but it would be considered uneducated to make fun of someone’s blindness and physical impairment.
Perhaps this helps explain why so few people actually want to wear hearing aids that can be seen by others, while glasses that overtly show another sensory deficit are universally accepted.
The consequences of noisy environments
Both tinnitus and hearing defects were also rare in primitive societies. In our increasingly noisy society, tinnitus has become one of the most common diagnoses for otolaryngologists. In some Western countries, hearing impairment is the most common cause of work-related injuries. It is therefore puzzling that while so much attention is devoted to the general environment, our hearing environment receives so little protection.
Gender differences in tinnitus
The number of men and women who suffer from tinnitus is essentially the same. Tinnitus can occur at any age, but its peak occurs in the 40-60 age group. Twenty-five percent of the population report having had at least one episode of tinnitus, 10% have chronic tinnitus without a decrease in quality of life, and about 1-2% report that tinnitus causes them pain.
In the United States, approximately 10,000,000 people suffer from tinnitus.
Ancient Egyptians suffered from tinnitus
The earliest records of tinnitus come from the ancient Egyptians 3,500 years ago, and there were about 20 prescriptions for tinnitus in Babylon. Other further reports come from India, Arabia, Persia, Greece and Rome. In fact, the word tinnitus comes from the Greek word Tinnire, which means ringing.
The Greeks first suggested masking as a treatment for tinnitus, and Paracelsus first suggested that excessive noise could cause tinnitus in 1500 AD. This was, of course, shortly after the invention of the gun.
Around 1800, the earliest experiments with electricity to treat tinnitus began, and Volta, the inventor of the battery pack, inserted electrodes into both of his ears and indicated that he heard a “bang” sound similar to something breaking. He was wise enough not to repeat the experiment.
But others repeated the method with great enthusiasm, even if not in their own ears. Even Beerhoven, who was already completely deaf at the time, was interested in the treatment because he was deeply troubled by tinnitus.
But when the treatment proved ineffective, the enthusiasm quickly faded.