Hearing loss can be a result of many different factors, whether it’s old age or constant exposure to loud noises. While old age is inevitable, hearing loss from loud noise can be prevented. Helix Hearing Care shared the different ways to keep your ears as sharp as possible.
1. Avoid Exposure to Loud Noises
Loud noises can cause damage to hair cells, nerves, membranes, and other parts of your ear. If you always have to shout whenever you are talking to someone, your area is loud enough to affect your hearing. If you work in noisy places like airports and construction sites, you need to dampen the sound by wearing ear protection such as earplugs or earmuffs.
Earplugs can reduce the noise by as much as 15 to 30 decibels. You can buy earplugs off the shelf, but if you want to take advantage of a better fit, you can have one tailor-fit to the size of your ear canal. Earmuffs can also dampen the sound by up to 30 decibels, but they have to fit tightly to block the sound effectively. In some cases, you may have to wear both earplugs and earmuffs to boost ear protection.
2. Enforce Quietness
If you need to buy home appliances and devices, it would be best to choose the ones with low noise ratings. Whenever you watch movies or restaurants and the noise is too loud, you can ask the manager to turn it down.
3. Listen to Music Responsibly
If your kids often listen to music, ask them to turn the volume in a comfortable listening range. Listening to music through earphones can be dangerous to the ears. If you need to hear the music better, use noise-cancelling headphones, so you don’t have to turn the volume up just to cover up the noise from your surroundings. Ideally, the music should only be at 60% of the maximum. Lastly, never listen to music using earphones for more than one hour at a time. Get five to 10-minute breaks to give your ears a rest.
4. Quit Smoking
A study has shown that current smokers have a higher risk of having hearing loss problems than non-smokers. That’s why for smokers, it is better to quit now than wait for symptoms. Likewise, non-smokers should also avoid breathing in secondhand smoke.
5. Clean Your Ears Properly
Our ear produces earwax to clean and protect itself. The wax traps dust and other contaminants, so it does not reach the deeper structures of your middle and inner ears. The build-up of this wax inside the ear can muffle the sound. If you need to clean your ears, don’t use a cotton swab. Instead, using an irrigation kit can help soften the wax and wash it out. If it becomes compacted, you may need to consult a doctor to remove it.
6. Avoid Medications With Ear Toxicity
Hearing loss can also be due to the medications. About 200 drugs, including antibiotics and chemotherapy drugs, can cause toxicity to the ears. Whenever you take a medication, ask your doctor if it will not impact your hearing. If you may need to take these medications, your doctor may ask you to get a baseline test to check your hearing and balance.
7. Get a Hearing Test
There are various situations when a hearing test becomes necessary. If you have symptoms that show you may have trouble with your hearing, close relatives who suffer from hearing loss, ringing in your ears, and constant exposure to loud noises, you may need to have your hearing test done to assess your risk. This way, your doctor can recommend solutions to prevent the worsening of symptoms.
Follow these tips to help prevent hearing loss. Don’t wait for symptoms to appear before you do something about it.
Guest blogger
Our guest post blogspot features a wide and diverse range of guests who have written one-off blogs about different aspects of health and fitness. If you are interested in featuring on our guest blogspot, please contact us.