Herbal Health

The human ear is sensitive to an amazing range of sounds. From a ticking watch—which clocks in at a safe 20 decibels—to a dangerous 140-decibel shotgun blast, not much escapes the healthy ear.

But as we age the years of lawn mowers and loud music take their toll. Men and women are usually in their 40s and 50s when they first become aware that their hearing is not what it used to be. Typically, they first notice a loss when they can no longer hear some of the higher frequencies, such as a whistle or the notes of a flute. Gradual hearing loss is the result of slow damage to the nerves of the inner ear, which sends sounds to the brain and helps you maintain your sense of balance. It can also occur because the bones of the middle ear become less flexible; the middle ear is responsible for conducting sound to the inner ear. The eardrum can also thicken with age, which can interfere with the quality of your hearing.

Fortunately, most ear conditions are easily treated. Modern technology has provided us with small, unobtrusive hearing aids, a tremendous advance from the clunky appliances of just a few years ago. With these advances, preventing further hearing loss is easy.

As we age the nose also changes, though it’s usually one of the parts we’re least concerned with. Over the years the nose loses cartilage, which may cause the tip of the nose to fall, but gravity’s cumulative effects can also play a part. Though for most people the thinning cartilage brings only slight physical changes, in some the fall is so pronounced that the nose narrows and lengthens considerably. This can result in nasal obstruction, which makes it difficult to breathe. This loss of cartilage is a major reason why older people may snore more or breathe through their mouths when they sleep.

The mucus membranes in the nose also become thinner with age. Often the nose produces less mucus, which makes the nose feel drier. In addition, the sense of smell decreases with age, since the olfactory nerves become less effective after the age of 60.

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Tags: General health

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 at 7:20 am and is filed under General health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.