Your sense of hearing is essential in your life and when you lose it, there will be no natural way for it to return But strangely, the general public tends to neglect hearing loss. As a matter of fact, permanent hearing loss affects one in every eight people (about 30 million people) 12 and older in the United States alone.
While there are treatments that can help you get some hearing back, like hearing aids, it’s such an easy thing to protect your ears from the start to prevent unnecessary hearing loss.
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 biggest dangers to hearing. Almost every smartphone on the market comes with a set of these little devices that fit snugly in your ear and pump sound straight into your ear canal. Listening to music or a movie on your mobile device at full volume for just 15 minutes can result in permanent hearing loss. Over the ear style headphones, especially the ones with noise canceling technology, would be a better choice. Following the 60/60 rule, which suggests a maximum volume of 60% for no more than 60 minutes per day, is another safety measure to protect your hearing.
Reduce the volume
Your hearing can be damaged by other things besides earbuds. If you regularly listen to the TV or radio at high volumes over sustained periods, your hearing can also be harmed. Shooting ranges, concerts, construction zone, and other loud settings should be avoided. Steering clear of these situations may only be possible in a perfect world, especially if you’re a construction worker or a musician. The next item on the list will be significant if you’re in this situation.
Hearing protection will help
If you have hobbies or work in a noisy setting, it’s crucial that you utilize hearing protection. 85 decibels over a period of 15 minutes is enough to cause hearing loss. To put that in perspective:
- The average firearm discharge clocks in at 149 decibels, which is multiplied and amplified over the course of a one hour trip to an indoor gun range
- Most concerts are between 100 and 120 decibels with headliners normally playing for about an hour and 20 minutes
- Jackhammers at a construction site generate 130 decibels, which could cause significant harm after a 40-hour workweek
If you participate in any of these activities, you need to get a good set of earmuffs or earplugs.
Take auditory breaks
Sometimes giving your ears a break is the best thing you can do. If you participated 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. So after you leave a concert, you most likely shouldn’t jump into your car and crank music.
Check your medicine
Your hearing could be substantially impacted by the medication you use. There are certain medicines that have been proven to trigger hearing loss including certain heart and cancer medications, aspirin, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory medication. The good news is that medication-related hearing loss is not common and is more likely if you use two or more of those medications together making it easier to prevent.
Are you coping with hearing loss and want to find new treatment? Contact us today to schedule a consultation.
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