Iraq and Afghanistan sent soldiers prone to hearing loss

It is a fact that those sent to Iraq or Afghanistan only to encounter roadside firing trysts and bombings such as Marines and other soldiers, would come home in epidemic quantities with a huge problem in the guise of hearing loss and this is the primary reason why the military has to reinforce their efforts in protecting their men's ears. Some experts declare that hearing injury is the first disability in the war on terror to the Department of Veterans Affairs, and sadly it might take so many decades before the true ramifications are defined. A soaring number of people on disability for hearing impairment reach up to about 58,000 while an even larger number, around 70,000 are the ones among the 1.3 million troops dispatched in these two war zones are discovered to suffer from tinnitus which is a potentially debilitating ringing in the ears and are claiming for this. Such numbers stun many people. The use of the insurgency of an extremely fearsome weapon the Pentagon did not fully anticipate which is powerful roadside bombs is one of the biggest explanations. Their explosions would cause violent changes in air pressure that can rip apart the eardrum and break bones inside the ear of a person.

With most of the fights being in firefights, ambushes and bombings, soldiers are not spared any time or chance to use their military issued hearing guards. I need to put my ear plugs first, can you wait is something that the soldiers there cannot say. Besides, some of the many servicemen on perambulation rebuff use of these earplugs for fear of dulling their senses and missing sounds that can truly be a life and death mark. On the other hand, some weren't able to receive any ear plugs before they were sent to the war zones while some just forgot to bring them.

A man, who served as a serviceman back then shares how up to now, the noises of war remains with him even after four years after the area of Baghdad figured in a simultaneous explosion of three roadside bombs. This man also gave some details to how it might have been hilarious that when the bomb exploded, he did not at all feel any pain of losing his head but then it was the ringing in his ears that he could recall so clearly. His recalls how his poor leg got blown off right under the knee in the year 2003. The ringing in his ears persists until today that he already has a new leg, as it was replaced by a prosthetic one.

Sixty percent of men from the US that had been subjected to loud blasts suffer from permanent hearing loss, while a good 49 percent of them would be in tinnitus anguish as per the military audiology reports and findings. The extent of the loss of hearing would range from the subtle kind which is characterized by the incapacity to hear whispers or low pitches, to severe down to total deafness or perhaps a persistent, booming ringing that destroys the ability to one to focus. The loss of hearing which is also called tinnitus does not have one solution.

It is a fact that from World War II and well through the war in Vietnam, hearing damage has been a chief disability among many people. However, it is a fact, according to the figures released by the VA, that despite everything that has been learned over the years, the Army troops are suffering hearing damage at about the rate as veterans from World War II. One ought to know that the World War II is not to be compared with the one Iraq. Vast artillery barrages, bombing raids and epic tank battles conducted during World War II proved that it was a different kind of war and was waged to a far greater extent.

Even the best hearing protection today can only be effective partially and only if it's properly used with the kind of fearsome weaponry used these days. A pair of $7.40 worth double sided earplugs, with one facet designed to protect from weapons fire and explosions, while the other from aircraft and tank noise were distributed to some members of the Marines. The Marines, sadly, were not taught properly on how to utilize the earplugs, so some cut them in half, while the others would use the wrong sides, making the devices just about insufficient. But nowadays, instructions need to be handed out along with the earplugs.

Earplugs that are very high tech and contain digital processors that block out damaging sound waves from gunshots and explosions without barring them from hearing everyday noises are being bought and distributed by the Marines and the Navy for their men. It is great how the Army also has equipped every soldier being sent to Afghanistan and Iraq with freshly developed one sided earplugs that cost about $8.50, and such are already being used and tested among some members of the Army.

Additionally, the Navy is working with San Diego based firm that is developing a hearing pill that would protect the hearing of their men. There was a study back in 2003 participated by five hundred and sixty six respondents who showed that there was about 25 to 27b percent in decrease of permanent hearing failure. And now for the very first time, the war fare of the United States of America has placed the hearing specialists or hearing trained medics on the front lines instead of just at field hospitals which are what they should have already done before.

Article Source: http://www.newsarticlessite.com

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