The Growing North American Epidemic of Hearing Loss

image showing hearing loss in Canadians

Hearing loss is something you generally associate with people that are sixty years old. We rarely think about the impact of hearing loss or how badly even a 1/5 loss in hearing could affect us. There is a growing epidemic throughout the US of hearing loss. This in no way is limited to just older people but also a growing segment of younger people.

Well the causes aren’t known there are few culprits to blame. Let’s look at some of the potential issues that could be causing the increase in hearing loss.

Modern Causes of Hearing Loss

Lacking ANSI specs – ANSI is a regulatory body that helps decide whether products are safe or not. They check the specs and run comprehensive tests that ensure a product is safe for the entire market. These are required for any product to enter a US or Canadian market and are extremely important to the safety and well being of the product. More and more companies are not living up to these requirements.

Expanding Product Tech/without Regulation – As companies produce music equipment that is louder and louder there is a growing concern that not only will there be more hearing loss but also unrepairable damage to the ears. These headphones operate at levels 2-3 times higher than normal and are quite dangerous.

With all that in mind, let’s look at some potential dangerous activities that have been on the rise and what are something that you can do to avoid the damage associated with these activities.


Well this comes as no surprise, shooting poses a serious risk for anyone who is looking at keeping their hearing intact. The issue once again is with ANSI products that aren’t certified. Retailers like Amazon sell products that lack the testing that was once so commonplace in the industry.

As Amazon relies on 3rd party sellers a lot of them front fake products to the consumer segment without much care for what happens. This has caused a lot of headache for people throughout the world.

Here at Epilepsyns we recommend anyone who is serious about shooting and protecting his/her ears to search for quality ear protective products, we recommend Gun News Daily’s reviews for more comprehensive product specs.


Headphones systems keep adding features that up the amount of bass these units can produce. As these are not tested products they also pose a great danger to those around them. These companies keep innovating but they aren’t paying attention to what is dangerous and how it can potential damage their customers hearing.

Ear Infections

Ear infections are on the rise as bacteria evolve to beat out antibiotics that were once used to combat ear infections. This is especially troubling in cases with kids as they are unable to defend themselves from these pathogens that have sometimes mutated to a level where they are able to beat out the medicine that is commonly used to combat these illnesses.

Final Thought on Hearing Protection and Preventing Hearing Loss

Hearing loss is at epidemic levels and this isn’t a topic that is being discussed at all, the truth of the matter is our markets are flooded with extremely low quality products that are posing a serious danger to our ears. Stay safe!