How to Protect the Hearing When You Use the Power Tools

There is a thing that the who works with the power tools often discovers too late: the hearing does not come back. It is not like the cut on the hand, that heals in the two weeks. The damage to the small cells inside the ear is silent, it accumulates day after day, and when the person finally notices the ringing or the difficulty to understand the words, many years have already passed. I have seen this happen to the carpenters, to the mechanics, to the who does the renovation in the own house during the weekend. And it is for this reason that I write these things with the seriousness that they deserve.

Why the Power Tools Are So Dangerous for the Ears

The ear is a mechanism of extraordinary precision. Inside the cochlea there are approximately fifteen thousand tiny hair cells that transform the vibrations of the air into the electrical signals for the brain. These cells do not regenerate. When they are damaged, they are damaged forever.

The power tools produce a noise that is both intense and prolonged. This is the combination that makes them particularly aggressive. A hammer gives you a single hit, and the ear has the time to recover. But the angle grinder that screams for forty minutes without stopping? It does not give any pause to the structures of the inner ear. The vibration is constant, the pressure on the tympanic membrane is continuous, and the little muscles that should protect the ear get tired and stop doing their work.

What makes the situation worse is that the damage is not felt in the moment. The worker finishes the day, the ears feel a little “full,” maybe there is a slight whistle, but by the morning it seems all normal. And so the person thinks: “It was nothing.” But it was not nothing. It was a small death of some cells that will never return.

The Decibels: Understanding the Real Numbers

It is necessary to speak clearly about the numbers, because many persons have a vague idea but not a precise one.

The threshold of 85 decibels is the line that the medical community considers the beginning of the risk for the prolonged exposure. Above this line, for every increase of three decibels, the safe time is halved. This is not an opinion. This is the physics of the sound and the biology of the ear working together.

The Practical Protections: What Really Works

I will say it in a direct way: the protection must be physical. There is no cream, no trick, no mental habit that substitutes the barrier between the noise and the ear.

The earplugs of foam: They cost little, they are disposable, and if inserted correctly they reduce the noise of 25–33 decibels. The error that many make is to push them in quickly without compressing them first. You must roll the plug between the fingers until it becomes thin, pull the ear upward and backward, insert it, and hold it while it expands. If you do not do this, it protects almost nothing.

The earmuffs (cuffie): They are more comfortable for the long sessions, they give a reduction of 20–30 decibels, and they are visible, so the other persons on the worksite see that you are protected. For the very loud tools, the combination of plug plus earmuff gives an additional 5–7 decibels of reduction. This is the strategy that I suggest for the who uses the jackhammer or the industrial grinder.

The custom-molded protection: For the who works every day with the tools, the molds made by the audiologist are the best investment. They are comfortable, they do not fall out, and they last for the years.

A thing that is important: the protection must be worn for the entire duration of the noise. If you remove the earmuff for “just two minutes” to answer the telephone, in those two minutes the ear receives the full damage. There is no partial credit.

The Daily Habits That Make the Difference

Beyond the protection on the ear, there are behaviours that reduce the global burden on the auditory system:

• Make pauses of silence. Every 60 minutes of work with the noisy tool, give to the ears at least 10 minutes in a quiet environment. The cells need the time to recover the metabolic balance.
• Maintain the tools in good condition. A blade that is dull, a bearing that is worn, a motor without lubrication — all these things make more noise than necessary. The well-maintained tool is also the less loud tool.
• Reduce the time of exposure. Plan the work so that the noisy operations are concentrated and limited. Do not leave the grinder running while you search for the next piece.
• Do not listen to the music with the headphones under the earmuffs. Many persons do this to “cover” the noise of the tool, but in this way you add noise to noise, and you also lose the perception of the warning sounds.
• After the work, give silence to the ears. Avoid the loud television, the concerts, the headphones at high volume for the rest of the day. The ears have already received enough.

The Nutrition and the Support from the Inside

There is a dimension of the hearing protection that is often forgotten: the health of the auditory system depends also on the circulation, on the oxidative stress, on the nutrients that arrive to the cells of the inner ear. The hair cells of the cochlea are among the most metabolically active in the entire body, and they require a good supply of antioxidants, of magnesium, of the vitamins of the group B.

A balanced alimentation rich in the leafy greens, in the fish, in the nuts, in the legumes is the base. But for the who is exposed regularly to the aggressive noise, some persons find useful to integrate the alimentation with specific formulations. I have had patients and readers who have asked me about the products like Acuvit, which is a food supplement thought for the support of the auditory function. It is not a substitute for the physical protection — I want to say this with absolute clarity — no pill can stop the mechanical damage of 110 decibels on the tympanic membrane. But as a complement, as a way to give to the cells the nutritional support against the oxidative stress that the noise provokes, it can have its place in a complete strategy. For the who wants to understand better the composition and the philosophy behind this type of integration, the information is available at acuvit.health and it is always the case to speak with the own doctor before beginning any supplementation.

The point is this: the protection of the hearing is not one single action. It is the combination of the physical barrier, of the intelligent work habits, of the nutrition, and of the attention to the warning signals.

When to See the Doctor: The Warning Signs

The hearing loss from noise is slow, and for this it is treacherous. But there are signs that must not be ignored:

• A ringing or a buzzing in the ears (tinnitus) that persists more than a day after the work
• The sensation that the sounds are “muffled,” as if there was a cotton in the ear
• The difficulty to follow the conversation in a noisy room, to understand the words of the wife or of the colleagues
• The need to raise the volume of the television more than before
• A feeling of fatigue after having listened to the persons for a long time

If one or more of these signs are present, it is necessary to make a control from the audiologist or the otorhinolaryngologist. The audiometric exam is simple, it is not painful, it lasts twenty minutes, and it gives a precise photograph of the situation. Do not wait that the problem becomes “impossible to ignore.” At that point, many cells are already lost.

A Final Reflection

The hearing is the sense that connects us to the voices of the persons we love, to the music, to the sounds of the nature. It is the sense that warns us of the danger. And it is fragile in a way that we do not perceive until it is too late.

The who works with the power tools has the right to do the own work, to build, to create, to renovate. But this right does not require the sacrifice of the hearing. The protection exists, it is accessible, it is not expensive. The knowledge of the risks is the first step. The second step is to put the earplugs in the pocket of the work trousers every morning, and to use them. Every single time. Without exceptions.

The ears that you have today are the only ones you will have for all the life. Treat them as they deserve.