Hearing loss affects over 70% of people over the age of 70 in the US. The hearing loss that occurs in age affects the tiny hairs inside the ears, and they start to die off. Of course, this doesn’t just happen in age, and it occurs with loud noises, too. One of the biggest questions that comes with this is whether or not hearing loss can be prevented. Your hearing is vital to your ongoing health, and you need it to be working the best way that it can for you to function well.
While you can’t reverse hearing loss once the damage is done, you can do some things to avoid it occurring in the first place. Below, we’ve got some of the ways that you can prevent it from happening.
Wear hearing protection
If you want to avoid hearing loss, wear protection on your ears when loud noises around you for an extended period of time. If you’re at a concert or working with heavy machinery, you need to ensure that your ears are protected, and you can do this with a range of headphones designed for noise cancellation and more. There are earplugs you can also wear if you are dealing with a lot of noise around you.
Be wary of headphones
We’ve just talked about wearing noise-canceling headphones, but these aren’t the same as the headphones that carry sound, like the kind you wear when listening to music. Most headphones out there on the market have a volume limit. The tiny hairs (cilia) that carry sound to the inner ear can only cope with up to 80 decibels of sound before damage occurs. Earphones and headphones need to be on a low and comfortable volume, not blasting your ears.
Take the right coverage at work
If you’re working with loud machinery at work, make sure that you are protected. If your management team hasn’t discussed this with you, ask for a health and safety review. Your hearing is essential, and you should keep looking after it even in the workplace.
Be aware of your current hearing levels
You can get your hearing tested to see whether you have any degree of hearing loss, and if you do, you can then get the right support for it going forward.
Speak to a hearing instrument specialist
If you believe that you are dealing with any level of hearing loss, it’s important that you speak to a hearing instrument specialist about your current hearing levels. They can test you to see whether you are dealing with hearing loss and even see if your current hearing instruments need to be adjusted. When you have your hearing checked regularly, you can assess and help some changes that occur as they happen.
When you speak to the right experts, you can learn how to prevent your hearing loss before it goes wrong. You need to work and ensure that your hearing is as protected as possible!
