The term industrial illness refers to illnesses suffered by individuals as a direct result of their working environment, unlike injuries illnesses are less obvious and can develop over a sustained period of time.

If you believe that you are suffering from an industrial illness or any other illness, you will need to visit a doctor. Outlined below are a list and brief description of the most popular illnesses caused from working environments.

Asbestos Asbestos is a disease that affects the lungs. The disease results from inhaling asbestos fibers, which aggravate the lungs leading to scarring on the lungs. In severs cases Asbestos can develop into Fibrosis. Asbestos exposure can also initiate other conditions such as Mesothelioma, lung disease and pleural thickening.

Work environments regularly linked to Asbestos disease are Asbestos plants, shipyards, heating and air conditioning firms, industrial chemical plants, schools, railway and electrical industries, chemical laboratories and building and construction. The disease can also indirectly affect individuals; workers in contact with Asbestos generally carried the fibers on the clothes, depositing them in their home and social environments.

You have the right to make a legal claim against Asbestos exposure if you were in contact between 1950-1985

Mesothelioma Caused from exposure to Asbestos fibers and dust, Mesothelioma is a cancer affecting the Mesothelioma cells, which cover the body’s internal organs. The Cancer usually takes 20 – 50 years to develop.

Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) Common in most office jobs, this illness affects a person by causing pain in their muscles, nerves and tendons. The condition generally affects upper parts of the body, like the forearm, wrists, elbows, neck, hands and shoulders. Caused by doing a particular task repeatedly for a sustained period of time

Vibration White Finger Caused from working with vibrating machinery or extended exposure to cold weather. This illness’ symptoms commonly include numb and tingling fingers and the toes, or in the nose and ears. In severe cases a persons fingers will start to turn white. In extreme cases the person can loose there fingers.

Tinnitus People who suffer from Tinnitus experience ringing, buzzing, humming or whistling noises in the ears and/or head with no external source, varying in pitch. The cause is exposure to loud noise. Generally suffered by factory workers working with loud machinery.

If you believe that you are suffering from an illness as a result of your working environment you are entitled to claim for compensation. Your employer will be covered by an insurance company, therefore you do not need to worry that your employer will be paying from there own pockets. By speaking out you will help to prevent the same illness affecting more in the future and help to improve your working environment.

Oliver & Co have specialist site’s, with more information on mesothelioma compensation, industrial deafness claims and other industrial illness and injury.

Turning up our music to a higher volume is a risky habit. You like the song, you turn it up to enjoy! However there are risks attached that you may be unaware of.

When a person listens to loud music for a significant amount of time they run the risk of damaging their hearing! Loud sounds are responsible for damaging sensitive hair cells within the inner ear. These hair cells are used by the brain to interpret sound. If the hairs are repeatedly exposed to loud noise, they may be permanently damaged resulting in loss of hearing. Listening to loud music can also cause temporary tinnitus, causing ringing, humming, buzzing or a whistling sound in the ears or head. This condition can become permanent in extreme cases.

Research suggests that some people are effected less by lengthy exposure to loud music as they are born with tougher ears. Listening to loud music through headphones is also said to significantly affect the likelihood of hearing damage as it is intensified. The problem is set to worsen with the introduction of MP3 players, battery life lasts for up to 20 hours compared to old school walkmans, which ran off AA batteries lasting for just a few hours.

Research into headphones have found that an individual can listen to music through their headphones at 70% volume for 4.6 hours a day without causing any lasting damage to their hearing, when the volume is increased to 100% as little as for 5 minutes exposure can damage hearing, an alarming statistic.

Teenagers are likely to listen to music louder than young adults do and boys are worse for cranking up the volume compared to girls! It is likely to be a number of years until we can evaluate the full extent of the effects of new music technology on our hearing.

Want to find out more about tinnitus compensationear damage? Then visit the What’s My Deafness Claim Worth Site to learn more and see if you may be eligible to make ihearing loss claims

Tinnitus is a relatively common condition which occurs in all age groups, with over 30% of adults having suffered with some type of tinnitus, although for most it is very much a manageable condition.

Tinnitus is the medical term for any noise an individual hears within the ears (or ear) when there is no external sound being and takes its name from the Latin for ringing. Those suffering with tinnitus experience anything from a steady beep to an sporadic chime, with some experiencing low volume, whilst others report a ‘wall of sound’. The most common sound is a high pitched ring, but other symptoms include hearing humming, buzzing or whistling.

Tinnitus has a number of causes, with the most well known being noise exposure and infections of the ear, but there are more causes or contributors, and here is an overview of all the main causes.

Ear infections can be a catalyst for tinnitus, either during the infection or as an ongoing symptom after it has cleared up. This can lead to discomfort and even loss of hearing so we recommend that at the first sign of infection you head to your doctor’s surgery where they can diagnose and treat the infection correctly.

The most well known cause of tinnitus is exposure to loud noise, which is also a cause of hearing loss. This is particularly common when music has been listened to for hours at a time. Other loud noises, such as in the work place are also responsible for tinnitus, so ensure the levels of noise you are exposed to is below the guidelines in the 2006 Noise at work Regulations.

Tinnitus is not caused directly by stress, but stressful situations contribute to it and in many cases will make existing tinnitus worse.

Medication which is ototoxic can be damaging to hearing, although there are very few medications that fall under this category. Ototoxic medicines are usually administered in cases of life threatening or very serious conditions, and usage is closely monitored.

Tinnitus is cited as a side effect for a fair number of medicines and situations, but this does not mean everyone who does/takes it will suffer as everyone’s body reacts differently.

If working in a noisy environment has affected your hearing, then you may have a case for an industrial deafness claim. Visit the What’s My Deafness Claim Worth site to learn more about tinnitus compensation and how the process works.

I am only 15 and i just found i have Sensorineural hearing loss – they are not sure if it will get worse or not…but if it does could it lead to complete deafness down the road?

When describing hearing loss we generally look at three attributes: type of hearing loss, degree of hearing loss, and the configuration of the hearing loss.

Type of Hearing Loss

Hearing loss can be categorized by where or what part of the auditory system is damaged. There are three basic types of hearing loss: conductive hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss and mixed hearing loss.

Conductive Hearing Loss

Conductive hearing loss occurs when sound is not conducted efficiently through the outer ear canal to the eardrum and the tiny bones, or ossicles, of the middle ear. Conductive hearing loss usually involves a reduction in sound level, or the ability to hear faint sounds. This type of hearing loss can often be medically or surgically corrected.

Examples of conditions that may cause a conductive hearing loss include:

• Conditions associated with middle ear pathology such as fluid in the middle ear from colds, allergies (serous otitis media), poor eustachian tube function, ear infection (otitis media), perforated eardrum, benign tumors
• Impacted earwax (cerumen)
• Infection in the ear canal (external otitis)
• Presence of a foreign body
• Absence or malformation of the outer ear, ear canal, or middle ear

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Sensorineural hearing loss occurs when there is damage to the inner ear (cochlea) or to the nerve pathways from the inner ear (retrocochlear) to the brain. Sensorineural hearing loss cannot be medically or surgically corrected. It is a permanent loss.

Sensorineural hearing loss not only involves a reduction in sound level, or ability to hear faint sounds, but also affects speech understanding, or ability to hear clearly.

Sensorineural hearing loss can be caused by diseases, birth injury, drugs that are toxic to the auditory system, and genetic syndromes. Sensorineural hearing loss may also occur as a result of noise exposure, viruses, head trauma, aging, and tumors.

Mixed Hearing Loss

Sometimes a conductive hearing loss occurs in combination with a sensorineural hearing loss. In other words, there may be damage in the outer or middle ear and in the inner ear (cochlea) or auditory nerve. When this occurs, the hearing loss is referred to as a mixed hearing loss.

Unilateral Hearing Loss

Unilateral hearing loss (UHL) means that hearing is normal in one ear but there is hearing loss in the other ear. The hearing loss can range from mild to very severe. Approximately one out of 1000 children is born with UHL. Unilateral hearing loss can occur in both adults and children. Nearly 3% of school-aged children have UHL.Children with UHL are at higher risk for having academic, speech/language and social/emotional difficulties than their normal hearing peers. Some children with UHL experience these difficulties but others do not.

Many times we do not know the cause of hearing loss. Below are some possible causes of UHL:

• Hearing loss that runs in the family (genetic or hereditary)
• An outer, middle or inner ear abnormality
• Specific syndromes
• Specific illnesses or infections
• Skull (temporal bone) fractures
• Excessive or extreme noise exposure
• Traumatic brain injury

Degree of Hearing Loss

Degree of hearing loss refers to the severity of the loss. The numbers are representative of the patient’s thresholds, or the softest intensity at which sound is perceived. The following is one of the more commonly used classification systems:

Source: Clark, J. G. (1981). Uses and abuses of hearing loss classification. Asha, 23, 493–500.

Configuration of Hearing Loss

The configuration or shape of the hearing loss refers to the extent of hearing loss at each frequency and the overall picture of hearing that is created. For example, a hearing loss that only affects the high frequencies would be described as a high-frequency loss. Its configuration would show good hearing in the low frequencies and poor hearing in the high frequencies. On the other hand, if only the low frequencies are affected, the configuration would show poorer hearing for low tones and better hearing for high tones. Some hearing loss configurations are flat, indicating the same amount of hearing loss for low and high tones.

Other descriptors associated with hearing loss are:

• Bilateral versus unilateral. Bilateral hearing loss means both ears are affected. Unilateral hearing loss means only one ear is affected.
• Symmetrical versus asymmetrical. Symmetrical hearing loss means that the degree and configuration of hearing loss are the same in each ear. An asymmetrical hearing loss is one in which the degree and/or configuration of the loss is different for each ear.
• Progressive versus sudden hearing loss. Progressive hearing loss is a hearing loss that becomes increasingly worse over time. A sudden hearing loss is one that has an acute or rapid onset and therefore occurs quickly, requiring immediate medical attention to determine its cause and treatment.
• Fluctuating versus stable hearing loss. Some hearing losses change—sometimes getting better, sometimes getting worse. Fluctuating hearing loss is typically a symptom of conductive hearing loss caused by ear infection and middle ear fluid, but also presents in other conditions such as Meniere’s disease.

Presbycusis is the loss of hearing that gradually occurs in most individuals as they grow older. Hearing loss is a common disorder associated with aging. About 30-35 percent of adults between the ages of 65 and 75 years have a hearing loss. It is estimated that 40-50 percent of people 75 and older have a hearing loss.

The loss associated with presbycusis is usually greater for high-pitched sounds. For example, it may be difficult for someone to hear the nearby chirping of a bird or the ringing of a telephone. However, the same person may be able to hear clearly the low-pitched sound of a truck rumbling down the street.

There are many causes of presbycusis. Most commonly it arises from changes in the inner ear of a person as he or she ages, but presbycusis can also result from changes in the middle ear or from complex changes along the nerve pathways leading to the brain. Presbycusis most often occurs in both ears, affecting them equally. Because the process of loss is gradual, people who have presbycusis may not realize that their hearing is diminishing.

What are the symptoms of Presbycusis?

With presbycusis, sounds often seem less clear and lower in volume. This contributes to difficulty hearing and understanding speech. Individuals with presbycusis may experience several of the following:

•The speech of others seems mumbled or slurred.

•High-pitched sounds such as “s” and “th” are difficult to hear and tell apart.

•Conversations are difficult to understand, especially when there is background noise.

•A man’s voice is easier to hear than the higher pitches of a woman’s voice.

•Certain sounds seem annoying or overly loud.

•Tinnitus (a ringing, roaring, or hissing sound in one or both ears) may also occur.

What are the causes of Presbycusis?

Sensorineural hearing loss is caused by disorders of the inner ear or auditory nerve. Presbycusis is usually a sensorineural hearing disorder. It is most commonly caused by gradual changes in the inner ear. The cumulative effects of repeated exposure to daily traffic sounds or construction work, noisy offices, equipment that produces noise, and loud music can cause sensorineural hearing loss. Sensorineural hearing loss is most often due to a loss of hair cells (sensory receptors in the inner ear). This can occur as a result of hereditary factors as well as aging, various health conditions, and side effects of some medicines (aspirin and certain antibiotics).

Presbycusis may be caused by changes in the blood supply to the ear because of heart disease, high blood pressure, vascular (pertaining to blood vessels) conditions caused by diabetes, or other circulatory problems. The loss may be mild, moderate, or severe.

Sometimes presbycusis is a conductive hearing disorder, meaning the loss of sound sensitivity is caused by abnormalities of the outer ear and/or middle ear. Such abnormalities may include reduced function of the tympanic membrane (the eardrum) or reduced function of the three tiny bones in the middle ear that carry sound waves from the tympanic membraine to the inner ear.

What can be done?

Much of the hearing loss caused by noise exposure can be prevented. Awareness of potential sources of damaging noises, such as firearms, snowmobiles, lawn mowers, leaf blowers, woodworking machinery and loud appliances is important. Ear plugs or special fluid-filled ear muffs can give protection and should be worn to help avoid the possibility of damage to hearing. Excessively loud everyday noises, both at home and at work, can pose a risk to a person’s hearing. Avoiding loud noises and reducing the amount of time one is exposed to everyday noises may be helpful.

There are many strategies to help people with presbycusis. Hearing aids may be recommended for some individuals. Assistive listening devices can provide further improvement in hearing ability in certain situations. One example of such a device is the built-in telephone amplifier. Another example is FM systems that make sounds clearer, with or without a hearing aid, by delivering sound waves like a radio. Training in speechreading (using visual cues to determine what is being spoken) can help those with presbycusis to understand better what is being said in conversations or presentations.

Hearing loss

in adults has many causes such as disease or infection, ototoxic drugs, exposure to noise, tumors, trauma, and the aging process. This loss may or may not be accompanied by tinnitus, ringing in the ears. Tinnitus can occur by itself without any hearing loss.

Some causes of hearing loss in adults are described below:

Otosclerosis

is a disease involving the middle ear capsule, specifically affecting the movement of the stapes (one of the three tiny bones in the middle ear).

Meniere’s disease

affects the membranous inner ear and is characterized by deafness, dizziness (vertigo), and ringing in the ear (tinnitus).

Medications

used to manage some diseases are damaging to the auditory system (ototoxic) and cause hearing loss. Some of the specific drugs known to be ototoxic are aminoglycoside antibiotics (such as streptomycin, neomycin, kanamycin); salicylates in large quantities (aspirin), loop diuretics (lasix, ethacrynic acid); and drugs used in chemotherapy regimens (cisplatin, carboplatin, nitrogen mustard).

Exposure

to harmful levels of noise results in noise-induced hearing loss . The prolonged exposure causes damage to the hair cells in the cochlea and results in permanent hearing loss. The noise-induced hearing loss usually develops gradually and painlessly. Hearing loss can also occur as a result of an acoustic trauma, or a single exposure or very few exposures to very high levels of sound.

Acoustic neuroma

is an example of a tumor that causes hearing loss. Acoustic neuromas arise in the eighth cranial nerve (acoustic nerve). The first symptom is reduction of hearing in one ear accompanied by a feeling of fullness.

Trauma

can also result in hearing loss. Examples include fractures of the temporal bone, puncture of the eardrum by foreign objects, and sudden changes in air pressure.

Loss of hearing as a result of the aging process is called

Presbycusis

. The process involves degeneration of the inner ear (cochlea). Presbycusis can also involve other parts of the auditory system. The hearing loss is progressive in nature with the high frequencies affected first. While the process begins after age 20, it is typically at ages 55 to 65 that the high frequencies in the speech range begin to be affected.