AP IMPACT: US troops losing hearing

[flashl]

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Soldiers and Marines caught in roadside bombings and firefights in Iraq and Afghanistan are coming home in epidemic numbers with permanent hearing loss and ringing in their ears, prompting the military to redouble its efforts to protect the troops from noise.

Hearing damage is the No. 1 disability in the war on terror, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, and some experts say the true toll could take decades to become clear. Nearly 70,000 of the more than 1.3 million troops who have served in the two war zones are collecting disability for tinnitus, a potentially debilitating ringing in the ears, and more than 58,000 are on disability for hearing loss, the VA said.

"The numbers are staggering," said Theresa Schulz, a former audiologist with the Air Force, past president of the National Hearing Conservation Association and author of a 2004 report titled "Troops Return With Alarming Rates of Hearing Loss."

One major explanation given is the insurgency's use of a fearsome weapon the Pentagon did not fully anticipate: powerful roadside bombs. Their blasts cause violent changes in air pressure that can rupture the eardrum and break bones inside the ear.

AP

In so many ways, our troops are not returning home whole.

[formercia]

1. You can thank Fearless Leader and his coterie of perpeTRAITORS.

They need their fair and due process asap.

[tabasco]

2. I lost about 30% of my hearing in the Army.

Time as mortar platoon leader hurt it a lot and rifle fire in combat.

Ringing in the ears all the time but if I sip some wine it gets worse.

I put in for a 10% disability and I'm waiting for my answer.

That's only about $100 a month.

[tabatha]

3. That's tough - how do you sleep?

[tabasco]

4. I got used to it.

The ringing doesn't bother me that much most of the time.

It came on gradually and the brain just makes adjustments.

[Mnemosyne]

6. I did not develop mine from war, but

it is chronic and loud. It only dissipates somewhat when I'm online. I run a fan at night, year round and still hear it though not as clearly.

Any ideas to tune it out better?

:hi:

[tabasco]

7. I don't know if it is related or not but noise really aggravates me.

Like barking dogs, traffic,stuff like that. Maybe the ringing caused me to become more sensitive that way. I don't know.

But I moved about as far away from noise as I could get. I live in the middle of nowhere on top of a mountain in West Virginia.

It is so quiet here and I love the peacefulness.

I used to run a fan too to provide some white noise!

:hi:

[Mnemosyne]

8. I miss music.

It never sounds quite right anymore. :(

It's fairly quiet here, so I am lucky in that.

A mountaintop sounds inviting most days! :hi:

[Mnemosyne]

5. Tinnitus can be an audiological nightmare.

Unless someone has experienced it or suffers daily/regularly from it, they can never quite understand how hellish it is to live with. I have a fairly severe case, nothing helps. It drowns out voices. William Shatner has suffered tremendously from it. He considered suicide to find silence.

I hate to even try to imagine how bad it must get for those that have been to war. There is no silence when tinnitus occurs, none ever.

Our troops will suffer so much more than 'just' PTSD, and worse. It is common for schizophrenia to occur in the mid-twenties; the average troop is in their twenties.

The problem of tinnitus

Tinnitus is a potentially devastating condition; its relentless noise is often an unwelcome reminder of war for many vets. The facts are disturbing:

* Tinnitus and hearing loss top the list of war-related health costs.
* Since 2000, the number of veterans receiving service-connected disability for tinnitus has increased by at least 18 percent each year.
* The total number of vets awarded disability compensation for tinnitus as of fiscal year 2006 surpassed 390,933.
* At this alarming rate, 2011 will see 818,811 vets receiving military compensation for tinnitus, at a cost to American taxpayers of over $1.1 billion.

Tinnitus is a growing problem for America's military personnel. It threatens their futures with potential long-term sleep disruption, changes in cognitive ability, stress in relationships and employability challenges. These changes can be a blow to a vet's self-worth.

Much more @ site:

http://www.ata.org/action_alliance/action_alliance_veterans.php

My heart cries for these kids' futures.

[w8liftinglady]

9. i have it in my right ear-it's a bitch