10 tips to prevent hearing loss

Do you find yourself straining to hear, sometimes? Worried you may be losing your hearing? No matter what age, realizing you might have hearing loss can be worrisome. While this is more common in adults, especially after the age of 45, anyone can experience hearing loss at any age.

How to tell you are suffering from hearing loss? There are a few ways. You may have trouble hearing on the telephone, you struggle to hear women and children’s voices, or you can’t follow a conversation if there’s background noise, such as in a gathering or in a restaurant. If you find yourself straining to hear, regularly, there’s a chance you may be suffering from hearing loss.

 

It’s important to consult your doctor,  audiologist or hearing health care specialist should you find yourself struggling with hearing. Alongside this, here are 10 tips to follow which will provide helpful should you be struggling to hear.

Stop listening to music through earbuds

It’s pretty paramount that, the moment you find yourself struggling to hear conversations that should be easy to follow, you minimize your earbud usage. Any volume which is 85 decibels or louder is harmful to the cells in your inner ear and has the potential to cause damage.

Earbuds sit close to your ear canal. This means that they’re more susceptible to damaging these cells through proximity. Sound is, essentially, boosted at a louder decibel rate.

If you find it difficult to cut music out, listen to music at a lower volume

This sounds simple enough, but some additional tips to help you find the correct volume so that you aren’t damaging your inner ear are:

Keep earphone use under 1hr

Prolonged exposure to noise can be damaging to your hearing.

Take 5-min breaks every 30mins

Breaks are an optimum way to help your hearing to recover after loud noises.

Use a timer

It’s advisable to use a timer, so you can time how long you’re exposed to music and take breaks accordingly. For every 15 minutes of noise, it’s recommended to take a five-minute break. After prolonged exposure, it’s advised you take an 18-hour break from any loud noises or sounds.

Listen to music at 60% volume

This is the optimum level for listening to music so it’s under 85dB (decibels).

Wear hearing protection

You can help yourself by wearing hearing protection such as earplugs which can prevent loud noises from further damaging your ears. Muffling loud noises will ensure those delicate cells in your ear canal are protected. Anything above 85dB should be reason to protect your ears.

To get a good idea of how loud noises can get, 85dB can be loud traffic, a motorbike can get up to 95dB, and loud music through earbuds is, on average, 100dB-110dB.

Ask for help at work

You’re should to speak to your HR manager or boss if you are worried about loud noise at work. Your employer should help assist you with any changes to minimize noise levels in the workplace.

Avoid medications which might harm your hearing

Certain medication such as NSAIDS (including ibuprofen) and even large amounts of aspirin have shown hearing loss as a side effect. Keep an eye out for hearing loss as a side effect when taking medication.

Get your hearing tested ASAP

It’s important to get tested as soon as possible, should you find yourself struggling with hearing. As obvious as this sounds, it’s important to consult your doctor, audiologist or hearing care professional so they can undertake a hearing test and advise you accordingly.

With you on your journey to better hearing.

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