There’s more to hearing than you might think! Your ears and hearing are important for more than just the obvious reasons. Hearing well helps keep your mind healthy, and hearing loss might be more common than you realize. We compiled a list of interesting facts about hearing, hearing loss and hearing aids from reputable sources on hearing. Some are fun facts, some are serious and some are hard to believe. Check them all out below!
- According to The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, approximately one in three people in the United States between the ages of 65 and 74 has hearing loss, and nearly half of people over the age of 75 have difficulty hearing.
- Not only do your ears do the hearing for you, they also help with balance.
- Whales can hear sounds up to 900 miles away!
- The wax moth has the sharpest hearing in the animal kingdom – up to 150 times more sensitive than humans at 300,000 Hz.
- Hearing loss has been linked to significantly higher rates of depression, anxiety and even dementia.
- While your ears pick up the sound, it’s your brain that does the hard work of making sense of it all.
- When traveling through water, sound moves around four times faster than when it travels through air.
- People with hearing loss wait an average of seven years before seeking help.
- Earwax has been useful to anthropologists for studying mankind’s early migratory patterns.
- In World War I parrots were kept on the Eiffel Tower in Paris because of their remarkable sense of hearing. When the parrots heard enemy aircraft, they warned everyone of the approaching danger long before any human ear would hear it.
- Sitting close to loudspeakers at concerts can damage your hearing in just 7.5 minutes!
- The ear’s malleus, incus and stapes are the smallest bones in the human body. All three together could fit together on a penny.
- One of out of every five men and one of out of eight women report at least some difficulty hearing.
- Hearing issues are the most common service-connected disability among American veterans.
Did you know any or all of these hearing facts? Read more about hearing and how it can affect people on our website here.