AP IMPACT: US troops losing hearing

iPedro · by **iPedro** on Fri, Mar 07 2008, 8:45 PM

damn, I have sensitive ears and I can't even imagine the discomfort they are going though.

By CHELSEA J. CARTER, Associated Press Writer
19 minutes ago

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.

Also, much of the fighting consists of ambushes, bombings and firefights, which come suddenly and unexpectedly, giving soldiers no time to use their military-issued hearing protection.

Full article

ladiesmilez · by **ladiesmilez** on Fri, Mar 07 2008, 8:51 PM

They just bearly found this out? because thats really common sense the hearing would be gone.

caker · by **caker** on Fri, Mar 07 2008, 9:24 PM

IMO the soldiers are paying the ultimate price-they always will. God Bless them. :paz:

Pika_Guerita · by **Pika_Guerita** on Sat, Mar 08 2008, 7:05 AM

caker wrote:IMO the soldiers are paying the ultimate price-they always will. God Bless them.

Extacly, thats what I'm say, they are the ones who always will pay the price and never will change....They will always be in my prayers z::

AP IMPACT: US troops losing hearing

AP IMPACT: US troops losing hearing

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