Why do most people dislike loud noise?

Most people do not like loud noise. Some people have particularly sensitive ears, they cannot bear ordinary levels of noise.
Hyper sensitive hearing is most commonly associated with hearing loss.Have you noticed how some older people ask you to speak up a bit. After a while they may ask you to stop shouting or they may say "I'm not deaf".


Loudness discomfort is typically a problem for people that suffer from a sensorinueral hearing loss (A sensorineural hearing loss is caused by damage or a disorder of the inner ear, or of the auditory nerve, nerve fibres going from the inner ear to the brain stem).


However this is not a problem who suffer from a conductive hearing loss(A conductive hearing loss involves the breakdown or obstruction of some part of the external or middle ear which transmits or conducts the physical vibrations of sound through air, bone or tissue.)


As we age, the number of hair cells and nerve fibres that are responsible for picking up in the inner ear is reduced.The ability to grade different intensities of sound is reduced. How do we compensate for this? 
Our brain will "switch on " all remaining nerve fibres to produce almost maximum loudness. As a result, even quite moderate sounds may seem to be unbearably loud.


The dynamic range is narrowed or reduced in the ears: If sounds are heard at all, they are heard as loud noises.


When a person suffers from hearing loss and needs to use hearing instruments, the hearing instruments should not overload the ear with amplified sound. To overcome this, many hearing instruments have "peak clipping". Another more sophisticated form of compression is known as automatic volume control.


Some recent research has shown that in some cases the use of white noise applied to the ear by a white noise generator masker can help.

Hearing aids stimulate brain activity

On average it takes 10 years for a person with a hearing loss to finally do something about it. The first reaction to a hearing loss is to wait for it to go away. This rarely happens.

Untreated hearing loss affects your quality of life, but it also affects the brain's ability to remember common everyday sounds because the hearing channels are no longer effectively used.

When the hearing nerves lose their function and no longer channel sound signals to the brain, the brain "forgets" the sounds over time and becomes unable to understand them.

Memory weakening

The brain centre for hearing stores sounds and noises for up to three years following the onset of hearing loss. But after about seven years the memory becomes weaker and weaker.

Therefore, it is important to have your hearing tested and hearing aids fitted when you find that you are losing some of your hearing. After fitting of hearing aids the hearing process resumes suppling signals to the brain.

Learning to hear again

If you delay the fitting of a hearing aid for any great length of time there could be serious consequences. Even the most tecnically advanced hearing aid may not be able to transform the incoming signal into understandable information. The brain no longer recognizes ordinary everyday sounds and noises, such as the hum of a refrigator or the noise of a computer. The brain must learn to hear all over again.

Improved quality of life

A study published by the Quality of LIfe Research journal indicated that hearing impaired people estimate their hearing to have improved while wearing a  hearing aid does more than help you to hear. A hearing aid improves your quality of life and improves your brain's function.

Most often hearing loss sneaks up on you. Suddenly one day you notice that you no longer hear the humming of the refrigerator or or the bird's singing.

Five improved 100% when treated with hearing aids. This is in contrast to their belief before being fitted with hearing aids that their hearing was inadequate.

The researchers conducting the study asked 98 people with hearing loss how they perceived their quality of life after the fitting of hearing aids. The results of the study confirm that people with hearing loss report improvements in their quality of life when they receive and adapt to hearing aids.

To find out more information on the human ear click here