Your ability to hear is valuable – once you lose it, the chance of getting it back in its natural form is not likely. But curiously, the general public tends to ignore hearing loss. In fact, permanent hearing loss affects one in every eight individuals (nearly 30 million people) 12 and older in the United States alone.
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 dangers to hearing health today since they’ve come packaged with mobile devices going back to the first MP3 devices in the early 2000s. These little devices sit snugly into the ear canal and pump sound straight into the inner ear and most smartphones come with them. You can get irreversible hearing damage by listening to a movie or music on your mobile device at maximum volume for only 15 minutes. Over the ear style headphones, particularly the ones with noise canceling technology, would be a better option. Adhering to the 60/60 rule, which suggests a maximum volume of 60% for no higher than 60 minutes per day, is another safety measure to safeguard your hearing.
Keep your volume low
Your hearing can be damaged by other things besides earbuds. Loud noises from a TV or radio can do as much damage if you consistently listen to them over a prolonged period of time. You’ll also want to steer clear of situations where loud sounds are constant, like construction zones, concerts, and shooting ranges. It might be unrealistic to completely avoid these environments particularly if they’re part of your job. If that’s the case, then you’ll want to pay attention to the next item on the list.
Hearing protection will be helpful
If you have hobbies or work in a noisy setting, it’s essential that you use hearing protection. 85 decibels over a period of 15 minutes is enough to cause hearing loss. Compare that to the following:
- Over a one hour trip to the indoor shooting range, your ears are repeatedly exposed to gunfire that clocks in at over 150 decibels on average
- At most concerts the headlining band plays for up to two hours at well above 120 decibels
- Jackhammers at a construction site generate 130 decibels, which could take their toll after a 40-hour workweek
The takeaway here is that you should get yourself some sort of hearing protection such as earmuffs or earplugs if you engage in any of these activities.
Take auditory breaks
Sometimes giving your ears a break 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 using ear protection. That means, you most likely shouldn’t get into your car and begin blaring loud music right after you leave a 3-hour concert.
Check your medicine
Your medicine could actually have a substantial effect on your hearing. There are some medications that have been proven to cause hearing loss including certain heart and cancer medicines, aspirin, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory medication. The good news is that medication-related hearing loss isn’t common and is more likely if you take two or more of those medications together making it easier to prevent.
Looking to get treatment for your hearing loss? Schedule an appointment with us for a hearing assessment.
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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