Speaking of "hearing problems", our first reaction is probably that this is a problem that only arises when people are old. For example, when talking to the elderly at home, they often have to be louder to hear them clearly. But thinking about it carefully, many young people are not without the experience of "behind the ears". For example, after using headphones at a loud volume for a long time, there may be situations where you "cannot hear the other party's speech"; family and friends find that your voice has become louder recently; these are actually signs of "behind the ears".

What is hearing loss?

Hearing is the perception of sound, and it is also necessary for dialogue and communication in life, leisure and entertainment, and even to avoid danger. The ear is an organ with the function of "listening". The structure of the ear is sophisticated and its function is complex, and it can cause different degrees of hearing loss due to noise, disease, trauma and other factors.

When the hearing threshold of both ears is not less than 20 decibels, the hearing is normal. And when a person cannot hear the sound like a person with normal hearing, he has hearing loss. The severity of hearing loss varies from mild to severe and can affect one or both ears.

If the hearing loss is extremely severe, that is, it is basically or completely inaudible, it is deaf.

Some reasons cause "back of the ears"

• The cause of hearing loss may be congenital or acquired. Among them, acquired reasons may cause hearing loss at any age, including:
• Infectious diseases such as meningitis, measles and mumps, chronic ear infections, fluid accumulation in the ears (otitis media);
• Use certain drugs;
• Head or ear injuries;
• A lot of noise, such as workplace noise from machinery and explosions;
• Exposure to strong sound during entertainment, such as high-volume use of personal audio equipment for a long time, and frequent visits to concerts, nightclubs, bars and sports events;
• Old age;
• A foreign body is blocking the ear canal.

Protect hearing, pay attention to these three details

The World Health Organization emphasizes that there must be safe listening behavior, that is, listening behavior that does not endanger your hearing health. So, from the perspective of listening to personal audio equipment, keep in mind the secrets of hearing protection.

"60-60-60 principle": the headphone volume must be less than 60 decibels, the headphone volume must be less than 60% of the maximum volume, and the continuous use of the headphones must be less than 60 minutes.

Don't wear earphones in noisy environments: In environments such as buses and subways, where the background noise is loud, if you use earphones at this time, you will unconsciously increase the earphone volume. Moreover, it is easy to bring traffic safety hazards.

The choice of earphones: It is best to choose earmuffs for earphones, which have little stimulation to the external ear canal and tympanic membrane. The volume of the earphones should be adjustable freely and flexibly, and can be adjusted in time in case of excessive loudness.