{"id":6190,"date":"2020-03-13T18:27:55","date_gmt":"2020-03-13T22:27:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thehearinginstitute.org\/?p=6190"},"modified":"2021-04-22T19:52:47","modified_gmt":"2021-04-22T23:52:47","slug":"what-is-a-decibel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thehearinginstitute.org\/what-is-a-decibel\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is a Decibel?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Decibels are important when it comes to measuring hearing ability (or lack thereof). Before you can understand the information presented on your audiogram after a hearing exam, it\u2019s important to know what a decibel is and how it is used in an audiologist\u2019s office. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Decibels Measure Sound Intensity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehearinginstitute.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/music-board-decibel.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-7630\" width=\"320\" height=\"213\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Sound energy travels in waves that can be\nmeasured in terms of frequency and amplitude. Frequency refers to the number of\nsound vibrations per seconds and is measured in Hertz (Hz). Amplitude measure\nforcefulness of soundwaves and is reported on the decibel (dB) scale. The more\namplitude a sound has, the louder it is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The decibel scale is logarithmic rather than\nlinear. This means that if two sounds have a difference of 10 dB, the louder\nsound is actually 10x louder than the quieter sound, and a difference of 20 dB\nmeans the louder sound is 100x louder than the quieter one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Decibels\nand Hearing <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nidcd.nih.gov\/news\/2017\/us-adults-aged-20-69-years-show-signs-noise-induced-hearing-loss\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders<\/a> estimates that around 15 percent of Americans between age 20 and 69 have hearing loss caused by exposure to dangerous noise levels. Any sound over 85 dB can cause permanent damage over time. For reference, here are the decibel outputs of common sounds: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Normal conversation: 60 dB<\/li><li>City traffic: 85 dB<\/li><li>Lawn mower: 90 dB<\/li><li>Headphones at max volume: 105 dB<\/li><li>Emergency sirens: 120 dB<\/li><li>Concerts: 120 dB<\/li><li>Sporting events: 105-130 dB<\/li><li>Firearms: 150 dB<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hearing\nProtection <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>If you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.asha.org\/public\/hearing\/Noise-at-Work\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">work in a noisy environment<\/a> like construction site, concert venue or airport, or if you enjoy hobbies that involve loud noises like playing music or shooting firearms, it\u2019s especially important to take measures to protect your hearing. Fortunately, there are many effective strategies for preventing noise induced <a href=\"https:\/\/thehearinginstitute.org\">hearing loss<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Wear\nEarplugs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Earplugs can be found inexpensively at most\ndrug stores. Foam earplugs are disposable and conform to the shape of the ear,\nwhile rubber or silicon earplugs can be washed and reused. Drug store earplugs\ncan be helpful in preventing damage but cannot protect against extremely noisy\nsituation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Purchase\nCustom Earmolds<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thehearinginstitute.org\">Custom earmolds<\/a> are recommended for people who are exposed to loud\nsounds on a regular basis. Ear impressions are taken at the audiologist\u2019s\noffice and special ordered. They can be used to make musician\u2019s plugs and\nhunter\u2019s plugs, which let in safe sound levels with perfect clarity while\nblocking unsafe sounds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information about noise induced\nhearing loss or to schedule an appointment for a hearing test or earmold\nimpressions, call <a href=\"https:\/\/thehearinginstitute.org\">Heuser Hearing\nInstitute<\/a> today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Decibels are important when it comes to measuring hearing ability (or lack thereof). Before you can understand the information presented on your audiogram after a hearing exam, it\u2019s important to know what a decibel is and how it is used in an audiologist\u2019s office. Decibels Measure Sound Intensity Sound energy travels in waves that can&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7630,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"502-584-3573 | Before you can understand the results of your hearing exam, it\u2019s important to know what a decibel is and how it is used.","_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":[23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehearinginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6190"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehearinginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehearinginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehearinginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehearinginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6190"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thehearinginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6190\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehearinginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thehearinginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6190"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehearinginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6190"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thehearinginstitute.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6190"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}