Hearing Loss App For Instant Download.
Surveys consistently find that many men and women can often fail to recognise the onset of noise induced hearing loss by up to ten years after spending a number of years constantly exposed to significantly loud noise levels at their place of work.
Figures released in July 2011, show that 1 in 6 of the UK population, i.e. over ten million people, suffer from some form of hearing loss. Of the four million aged between 16 to 64, over 40 per cent are aged 50 and above, and over 70 per cent are aged over 70.
It is known that the ability to hear distinctly can gradually and imperceptibly deteriorate over several years and is often mistakenly confused as part of natural ageing. Many workers coming up to or have recently taken retirement may be unaware that they may have sustained long term hearing damage or indeed, refuse to accept they have any major hearing issue at all!
It may take a family member or a close friend to point out to the person concerned that they’ve noticed the TV volume gets turned up a little more than it used to be or they feel that person sometimes appears to not have heard someone speaking to them!
It becomes more apparent that it’s time for a hearing test to be taken, and as early as possible, because if the likely cause is shown to be related to be as a result of exposure to loud noise in the workplace, there is a three year time limit for a personal injury claim to be made.
Establishment of noise induced hearing loss and / or tinnitus must be confirmed by a medical report and further documented proof and witness statements provided to show sufficient evidence that hearing loss was caused by exposure to a specific excessive noise source at a particular employment.
To help to speed the process up, Action on Hearing Loss has launched a free Hearing Check app to 
download from Apple which can be used on their iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. The UK charity, formerly known as the RNID, had previously launched an iPhone app, which proved to be one of the top ten most popular medical apps at Christmas, and doubled the number of hearing tests taken.
Those individuals shown to have normal hearing are given advice on how to continue to look after their hearing and for people with hearing indicated as being outside the normal range, a certificate is provided for them to take to their GP, accompanied by useful information.
It is because noise induced hearing loss is usually a very gradual process and often ignored, that it often becomes too late to take preventive action or to reverse the effects of the damage caused by years of excessive noise exposure.
To download the Hearing Check app, please visit www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk/iphoneapp.