Thousands of U.S. soldiers sent to Iraq have suffered [noise-induced hearing loss] due to a lack of education about hearing protection, a reduced force of military audiologists, and a lack of monitoring for threshold shifts, the research states.

Of these soldiers, 5.6 percent suffered acoustic trauma from a single loud noise, such as a bomb blast. Another 1.6 percent had broken eardrums, which often heal, but leave soldiers vulnerable to ear infections in unsanitary battlefield conditions. About 29 percent had a permanent threshold shift, and in 15.8 percent, the hearing loss was considered significant enough to limit or disqualify a soldier from duty according to military standards. Most visits for eardrum perforation or a permanent threshold shift occurred in April to June 2003, a period that coincided with the heaviest combat operations and blast injuries during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"These are not just mild hearing losses that you and I might have from listening to music, or from aging," said Brenda Lonsbury-Martin, ASHA chief staff officer for science and research. "These are pretty severe hearing losses that will impact your life."