Noise is the leading cause of hearing loss, affecting an estimated 10 million Americans and putting 30 million more at risk. Yet noise-induced hearing loss is completely preventable.

Simply put, noise-induced hearing loss is hearing loss from overexposure to noise. You can get a hearing loss from noise in a workplace setting, such as a factory or construction site, to noise from recreational activities - headphones, movies, concerts, even power tools.

Wednesday, April 20, 2005, is the 10th annual International Noise Awareness Day. The goal of the day is to educate the public about the dangers of noise to hearing and health. It also is a time to think about get your hearing checked.

"Most of us think that only our grandparents have hearing problems," said Julee Sylvester, spokesperson for the Sight & Hearing Association. "But in reality, statistics show that one of 10 30-year-olds already has a hearing loss."

The reason for hearing loss at an earlier age is simple, she says. In today's world, you are introduced to noise the minute you're born. And, because hearing loss is completely painless, most people don't realize they're damaging their hearing until it's too late.

To encourage Minnesotans to protect their hearing, the Sight & Hearing Association - a nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing vision and hearing loss - is offering free hearing screenings statewide on Wednesday, April 20.

• Free hearing screenings - In the Twin Cities metro area and greater Minnesota, audiologists will provide free hearing screenings to the public. Free screenings will be held at 33 locations: Coon Rapids, Crystal, Edina, Elk River, Forest Lake, Hastings, Minneapolis, Minnetonka, Plymouth, Red Wing, Robbinsdale, Roseville, St. Louis Park, Stillwater, Woodbury and Wyoming, as well as in Brainerd, Duluth, Faribault, Northfield, Mankato, Moorhead, Rochester and St. Cloud. (Click here for the list of screening sites, or call the Sight & Hearing Association at 1-800-992-0424.)
• Dissemination of free ear plugs and information - Ear plugs, donated by 3M, will be distributed at all screening sites.
• 60-Seconds of Silence - From 2:15-2:16 p.m., the public is encouraged to experience a minute of silence.

"Once you have a hearing loss," Sylvester says, "you can't fix it like you can fix blurry vision - with glasses or Lasik. Hearing aids will help, but they will never perfect your hearing."

International Noise Awareness Day, which began in 1996 by the League for the Hard of Hearing, is a joint effort of numerous hearing-related organizations worldwide. Here in Minnesota, the Sight & Hearing Association, founded in 1939, is dedicated to preventing the needless loss of vision and hearing through screening, education and research.