Your sense of hearing is important in your life and when it’s gone, there will be no natural way for it to return But strangely, the general public tends to disregard hearing loss. In the US alone, one in eight people over the age of 12 is dealing with neglected and irreversible hearing loss.
While there are treatments that can help you regain your hearing, like hearing aids, it’s such a simple thing to protect your ears from the beginning to prevent unnecessary hearing loss.
Here are five easy ways that you can safeguard your hearing:
Earbuds should be avoided
Earbuds are one of the biggest threats to hearing health today since they’ve come packaged with mobile devices going back to the first MP3 players in the early 2000s. Almost every smartphone on the market comes with a set of these little devices that sit snugly in your ear and pump sound straight into your ear canal. Listening to music or a movie on your mobile device at maximum volume for only 15 minutes can result in permanent hearing loss. Over the ear style headphones, particularly the ones with noise canceling technology, would be a better option. No matter what devices you use, you should follow the 60/60 rule – keep the volume at 60% maximum and only use the devices for 60 minutes each day.
Keep your volume down
Your hearing can be damaged by other things besides earbuds. If you routinely listen to the radio or TV at high volumes over sustained periods, your hearing can also be harmed. You’ll also want to steer clear of situations where loud sounds are constant, such as construction zones, concerts, and shooting ranges. It may be unrealistic to completely avoid these environments especially if they’re part of your job. If that’s the situation, then you’ll want to take note of the next item on the list.
Hearing protection will help
Hearing protection is essential if you work in an environment or enjoy hobbies that expose you to loud noises. Hearing loss can happen in just 15 minutes at 85 decibels. Compare that to the following:
- Jackhammers at a construction site generate 130 decibels, which could cause significant harm after a 40-hour workweek
- The majority of concerts are between 100 and 120 decibels with headliners normally playing for around an hour and 20 minutes
- Over a one hour trip to the indoor gun range, your ears are repeatedly subjected to gunfire that clocks in at over 150 decibels on average
If you take part in any of these activities, you need to purchase a good set of earmuffs or earplugs.
Take auditory breaks
Sometimes giving your ears a rest is the smartest thing you can do. If you engaged in any of the activities listed above, you really should make certain to take some quiet time to yourself so your ears can rest and recover, even if you were wearing hearing protection. So after you leave a concert, you probably shouldn’t jump into your car and crank music.
Check your medicine
Your medicine may actually have a substantial impact on your hearing. Aspirin, anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, and certain heart and cancer medications have all been proven to trigger hearing loss. Fortunately, medication associated hearing loss normally only happens when more than one of these medications are taken together making it far less common.
Are you suffering from hearing loss and want to seek out new treatment? Schedule an appointment with us for a hearing assessment.
Resources
https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/hearing_loss/how_does_loud_noise_cause_hearing_loss.html
https://armeddefense.org/hearing-protection
https://www.uofmhealth.org/health-library/tf3092
