Hearing does not HAVE to decline with age

 It would seem that a degree hearing loss with age is more about sound exposure than age per say, according to a study of the tribal Mabaans. Obviously aging increses your susceptability to more sounds and louder sounds, but even so, its good to know that if you look after your ears, don't go to to many rock concerts, wear earplugs for heavy machinery and so on, we won't ALL end up as deaf as a doorpost. 

http://archotol.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=600299

The elderly Mabaans have hearing on par with young westernised people – due to mabaans living in a nnon-industrialiesd society with less hearing damage induced over time. Hearing loss largely exposure related than “age” associated per say.

To lose hearing is to lose most social communication too, it really is a terrible affliction. Yet I still feel that people don't treat their ears with respect. The little hair cells within the ear (which, aren't the hairs you see in your ears, but rather are vital to converting physical sound waves into neuronal transmissions that can reach your brain for decoding) cannot regrow. So, once destroyed you will forever lose that capacity to hear as good as you once did.

I also wonder about damage being done to the hair cells by earphones, which tend to yell directly into your ear...

The next article also outlines how temporary hearing damage can occur, courtesy of sounds louder than 110 decibels:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/08/120829064707.htm

Nerve cells that carry electrical signals from the ears to the brain have a coating called the myelin sheath, which helps the electrical signals travel along the cell. Exposure to loud noises -- i.e. noise over 110 decibels -- can strip the cells of this coating, disrupting the electrical signals. This means the nerves can no longer efficiently transmit information from the ears to the brain.
However, the coating surrounding the nerve cells can reform, letting the cells function again as normal. This means hearing loss can be temporary, and full hearing can return, the researchers said.
Dr Hamann explained: "We now understand why hearing loss can be reversible in certain cases. We showed that the sheath around the auditory nerve is lost in about half of the cells we looked at, a bit like stripping the electrical cable linking an amplifier to the loudspeaker. The effect is reversible and after three months, hearing has recovered and so has the sheath around the auditory nerve."