There comes a time in almost every adult’s life when they start to realize that they are not hearing as well as they used to. It might start by turning the volume on the television up more often or simply not understanding what people are saying around them. There are a couple of common reasons that a person may start to lose their hearing.
The first reason is simply aging. As you start to get older, the hair cells located throughout your inner ears will start to break down and will not pick up vibrations of sounds as well as they used to. The second reason is simply exposure to noise. Exposing your ears to loud noises throughout the years causes damage.
The good news is that there are several things that you can do to help avoid loss of hearing. Here are 5 ways to help keep your hearing throughout the years.
1. Avoiding Loud Noises
One of the easiest and most important things that you can do in order to protect your hearing is to stay away from loud noises as much as possible. Typically, noises are loud enough to damage hearing if you need to raise your voice to talk to others, you cannot hear what other people near you are saying, your ears start to hurt, there is ringing in your ears after the event, or everything sounds muffled after.
Sounds that are over 85 dB can cause damage to your hearing, especially if you are exposed to these sounds for long time periods. You can use an app on your smartphone to measure levels of noise, just make sure that they are correctly calibrated for the most accurate readings.
Clubs, concerts, and factories, etc. all have sounds that will likely challenge that decibel range. Clubs and concerts drone out this issue, as the participant becomes acclimated to the surroundings early on. From there, it becomes more and more difficult to notice the damage after the initial sticker shock. Factories on the other hand is easy to identify. This is simply because of the consistency of noise. In most cases, the processes in the factory will vary from level to level over time. With these inconsistencies in sound levels, you’ll feel the difference more often, and be more prone to putting on safety equipment.
In any case, ensure that you acquire sound protection equipment beforehand. Loud noises are difficult to measure in most cases, but if you are attending an event that you know will be testing those boundaries, prepare beforehand. You won’t see the results if you do, but be rest assured you will see the damage if you do not prepare yourself.
2. Music Listening
Everyone loves to listen to music and most people like to listen to it at loud levels. However, listening to music at loud levels, especially through headphones, can be quite damaging to your ears. When you are listening to music there are some things that you can do to protect your ears.
First, use noise-canceling headphones so you do not have to raise the volume to cover up noises from the outside. Do not listen to music at volumes higher than 60 percent max. Make sure that you take a break for at least 5 minutes after each hour of listening.
3. Attending Loud Events
When you are attending a loud event such as a concert, there are some things that you can do to help protect your hearing. First, make sure that you are not right next to the speakers. Try to walk away and find a quieter space every fifteen to twenty minutes. After exposing yourself to loud noises, make sure that you allow your ears time to recover. You need at least 18 hours after the loud event for your ears to be back to normal. Finally, consider purchasing and wearing earplugs. There are musician’s earplugs available that can help reduce the noise levels and protect your ears.
4. Work Precautions
If you work in a loud environment, it is important to make sure that you are doing what you can to reduce your exposure to loud noises. You can talk to your HR department about ways to reduce noise levels. Make sure that you are wearing any equipment that is provided to help protect your hearing.
This equipment usually is somewhere around ear defenders, earplugs, or other more subtle contributions to your work day. Do you feel these are necessary based on the field you work in? The industries most heavily at risk are musicians, machine workers, factory employees, etc.
Their work habits expose them to a ton of potential injuries or damage down the road to their eardrums. Being proactive about these issues later down the road is effective through just taking the simple precautions necessary with wearing safety equipment on a daily basis. Although it can be frustrating at times and may be encumbering, remember the long term damage you are avoiding by wearing it.
5. Hearing Tests
If you are starting to worry about your hearing, make sure that you go in for a hearing test right away. The earlier that hearing loss is detected, the more that can be done to help.
Give us a call today to get started on amending any issues you may have with your hearing. We’ll evaluate how your hearing is, what is best to amend it, and what you can do to avoid it in the future. Taking these extra steps will make a world of difference in the long run for your health and self care. We’re really looking forward to seeing you soon.
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