Effects of Noise Pollution

How does noise affect you? Why is it bad? The effects of noise on your ears, your body, your mind, your behavior.

Direct Effects of Noise

Image courtesy of NASA

• Hearing loss
• How noise damages the ear
• Temporary hearing loss
• High-frequency hearing loss
• Degrees of hearing loss
• Mild hearing loss
• MP3 demonstration of hearing loss
• Age-related hearing loss and noise
• Ringing in the ears (tinnitus)
• Painfully over-sensitive hearing (hyperacusis)

You know that jolt of adrenaline you feel when you are surprised by a loud unexpected noise? That's an example of a hormonal disturbance (albeit a fleeting one). Other physiological effects of noise include:

• Increased blood pressure (hypertension)
• Increased heart rate and breathing rate
• Digestive disturbances

For some people, noise is a trigger for migraine headaches.

Secondary Effects of Noise

Sleep loss is bad enough when you are home in your own bed, but it's especially rough if you're in a hospital bed. Hospitals can be noisy places, even at night, and many patients find it difficult to get enough sleep in that environment. This is more than a mere annoyance, because sleep loss can dramatically slow healing and recovery.

If kids are trying to learn in a noisy environment, their ability to focus and concentrate is reduced, which can naturally lead to long-term learning problems.

Noise can cause irritability and other mood changes, which can damage your relationships and interfere with your sex life. In some cases it can even contribute to an increase in aggressive behavior.

Have you ever been in a bar or restaurant that was so noisy that you made yourself hoarse trying to talk loudly enough to be heard? Maybe you gave up on having a meaningful conversation altogether. Maybe you even ended up drinking more than you intended to, because it was too noisy to converse. All of these are side effects of noise.

A few people find noise so intolerable that they go to extreme lengths to avoid it, staying home as much as possible and effectively becoming social hermits.

From these examples, a subtle but consistent pattern emerges: Noise creates social barriers between people.

Bottom Line: Stress!

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