Hearing loss is a serious health hazard for veterans.  Consider this:

• More than 45,000 vets from Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom have hearing loss.
• Of the 300,000 vets from the post 9/11/01 conflict, tinnitus is the #1 disability and hearing loss is #2.
• 35% of returning troops from Iraq and Afghanistan have hearing loss.

Any decibel above 85 is considered harmful.  Rifle fire is 150 decibels.  Bombing practices regularly hit 110 - 130 decibels.   Some troops have their hearing damaged during a skirmish and then can not hear commands that lead them to safety.    Their fellow soldiers are yelling at them to run or duck, but they can no longer hear.  As a hearing-impaired person whose chief complaint is missing out on some conversation during a social outing, this is horrifying.

But here is an even more horrifying part:   Most of these cases of hearing loss were because the soldier opted not to wear hearing protection.   Air Force Col. Joseph A. Brennan, the ENT doctor at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, asks every soldier whom complains of hearing related issues if they were wearing hearing protection.  “Since I arrived here in May, I have not had one service member answer yes to that question,” he says.

Why won’t they wear their hearing protection?  The same reason we use the hair dryer (80+dB) or mow the lawn (95+dB) or sit in an airplane cabin during takeoff (110+dB) without ear plugs.  We feel it effects our ability to communicate.  According to Brennan, many troops do not use hearing protection while out on missions, because they feel that the hearing protection affects their ability to do their job and complete their missions.

The military is working on a kind of ear plug called Active Hearing Protection.  This device will amplify the sounds of conversation or tracking noises, but would shut off the loud, damaging sounds.   Here is an example of a commercially available one on Amazon, and another one here.  I scoured the web for some sort of indication as to when this safety gear will be deployed.  I couldn’t find anything, perhaps it has already made it to the field.  (Let me know in the comments if you know anything about this.)

What can we do?

• Write the people in your extended life that are serving in battle areas and implore them to wear their hearing protection.   Tell them about the statistics above.
• Consider sending them some ear plugs.   They aren’t the same as Active Hearing Protection, but have their uses in the field.  Here is a kind of active hearing protection device that may be helpful.
• Send a note to your representatives on the Armed Forces Committee in Washington.  Urge them to make make hearing health a priority for our soldiers.  Ask them about the active hearing protection device.

I welcome your ideas on how to educate our troops on this issue.  In the meantime, I send my most sincere gratitude to all of the men and women who serve and protect our country so selflessly. I would love to hear your ideas for ways to support troops who are overseas and far from home at the holidays.