Saturday, August 22, 2009

Clinic Traffic Downrange Shows Need for Hearing Protection

By Army Spc. Opal Hood
Special to American Forces Press Service

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, Aug. 20, 2009 - When gearing up for a mission in Afghanistan, servicemembers don't forget their helmet, gloves, weapon, eye protection or body armor. But what about hearing protection?


"The first question I ask a patient who comes in with a hearing complaint is 'Were you wearing hearing protection?'" said Air Force Col. (Dr.) Joseph A. Brennan, the ENT doctor here. "Since I arrived here in May, I have not had one servicemember answer yes to that question."

Many troops say they don't use hearing protection on missions because they feel it affects their ability to do their jobs and complete their missions, Brennan said.

"I was in Iraq in '04 and '05 -- in Fallujah with the Marines and the Army's 1st Infantry Division -- and we just couldn't get folks to wear their hearing protection," Brennan said. "We understand. It is like the old Army helmets --soldiers were complaining they couldn't shoot with them. So even though they offered better protection, which as a doctor is what I care about, the fight is most important."



Surgery usually can correct conductive hearing loss from damaged ear bones or wax in the external ear canal of the ear, the doctor said. Sensory neuro hearing loss, he added, means the nerve in the inner ear has been damaged. Surgery can't correct it; the only treatment is hearing aids.

Tinnitus -- a ringing or whining inside a person's ear -- can result from nerve damage. A doctor can measure the sound in the ear when the patient has objective tinnitus, Brennan said, but a person with subjective tinnitus is the only one who can hear the sound.

Tinnitus has no cure, but a device called a "masker" -- a type of hearing aid – can replace the noise with a less annoying, more natural sound inside the ear, Brennan said.


Though he understands some servicemembers' objections to wearing hearing protection on missions, Brennan said, an event he remembers from his time in Iraq makes the opposite case.

"In Iraq in 2004, there was a soldier who was in two IED blasts," he said. "The second explosion really blew out his ear drums, and he could not hear a thing. The soldier's sergeant and his fellow soldiers were on a rooftop in a firefight. The bullets were buzzing by his head. His sergeant had to tackle him to get him out of the line of fire, because the soldier could not hear his comrades yelling for him to take cover."




New technology always is being developed to help in the fight against hearing loss, Brennan said, citing research into a concept called "active hearing protection" that's going on at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

"A person would wear this device on the inside or outside of their ear," he explained. "For instance, if you were walking through the woods, this ear plug would amplify the sounds around you, but the moment the noise level reached a harmful level, the ear plug would protect your ear and eliminate the sound, essentially plugging your ears."




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