Governor Stein Proclaims Protect Your Hearing Month

Protect Your Hearing Month

2025

By The Governor Of The State Of North Carolina

A Proclamation

Whereas, 1.3 million residents in North Carolina experience hearing loss and more than 50 million Americans have some degree of hearing loss, including 40 million adults aged 20 to 69 whose hearing loss is noise-induced; and

Whereas, hearing loss can result from a single loud sound or from repeated exposure to loud sounds over time, with the louder sounds taking less time to cause damage to hearing, such as everyday exposures to music on personal devices with the volume set too high, children’s toys, concerts, bars, sporting events, movie theaters, power tools, lawn mowers, leaf blowers, sirens, and firearms; and

Whereas, while noise-induced hearing loss cannot be reversed, it can be prevented by avoiding noisy places when possible, turning down the volume when watching TV or listening to music, and using hearing protection such as earplugs or protective earmuffs, or, when avoiding noise or wearing hearing protection are not possible, moving farther away and taking breaks from noise; and

Whereas, untreated hearing loss is associated with poor overall health, including cardiovascular risk, cognitive changes, diabetes, balance disorders, and depression, and can lead previously socially engaged adults to become isolated and withdrawn as their loss of hearing progresses; and

Whereas, early detection and checking one’s hearing is an important first step if hearing loss is suspected, and with proper hearing health care, communication access, and the abundance of resources in North Carolina, these people can have lives that are meaningful and productive;

Now, Therefore, I, Josh Stein, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim October 2025 as “Protect Your Hearing Month” in North Carolina and commend its observance to all citizens.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this twenty-third day of September in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-fifth and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fiftieth.