Your sense of hearing is essential in your life and when it’s gone, there will be no natural way of getting it back. But for some reason, hearing loss frequently goes untreated and uncontrolled in the general population. In the US alone, one in eight people over the age of 12 copes with untreated and irreversible hearing loss.
Protecting your hearing from the start is the best and simplest way to prevent hearing loss, but if you’re already experiencing hearing loss you can recover much of your hearing with a hearing aid.
Safeguard your hearing with these five tips:
Don’t use earbuds
Earbuds have been packaged with mobile devices since the early 2000s and are one of the greatest threats to hearing. Almost every smartphone available comes with a set of these little devices that fit snugly in your ear and pump sound straight into your ear canal. Listening to a movie or music on your mobile device at maximum volume for just 15 minutes can result in irreversible hearing loss. The better choice would be to get a set of earmuff-style headphones that go over your ears, which is made even better if you can find a pair that has noise-canceling technology. No matter what devices you use, you should stick to the 60/60 rule – keep the volume at 60% maximum and only use the devices for 60 minutes per day.
Keep your volume low
Earbuds don’t produce the only sounds that can damage your hearing. If you routinely listen to the TV or radio at high volumes over prolonged periods, your hearing can also be harmed. Gun ranges, concerts, construction zone, and other loud environments should be avoided. It may be unrealistic to completely avoid these situations particularly if they’re part of your job. The next item on the list will be important if you’re in this situation.
Hearing protection will be helpful
Hearing protection is a must if you work in a setting or enjoy hobbies that expose you to loud sounds. 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 gun range, your ears are repeatedly exposed to gunfire that clocks in at over 150 decibels on average
- The noise of a construction site can be above 130 decibels and many workers spend 40 or more hours every week there
- At the majority of concerts the headlining band plays for up to two hours at well above 120 decibels
The moral here is that you should invest in some type of hearing protection such as earmuffs or earplugs if you take part in any of these activities.
Take auditory breaks
Sometimes giving your ears a break is the smartest thing you can do. Even if you wear ear protection, if you are subjected to loud sounds like these for prolonged periods, you should take some quiet breaks to give your ears a chance to rest. That means, you definitely shouldn’t get into your car and begin blasting loud music right after you leave a 3-hour concert.
Check your medicine
Your medicine could actually have a significant effect on your hearing. There are some medications that have been proven to trigger hearing loss including some heart and cancer medications, aspirin, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory medicine. Luckily, medication related hearing loss normally only happens when more than one of these medicines are taken together making it far less common.
Looking to get treatment for your hearing loss? Get in touch with us today to set up a consultation.
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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