How Can You Prevent Hearing Loss?

Life’s better when you can enjoy it to the fullest, which includes ensuring that your senses are working exactly as they should. Hearing loss is a condition that affects millions of people across the United States. Fortunately, there are things we can do to treat loss of hearing, including fitting a hearing aid device. But that’s only necessary once the hearing loss has occurred. There are things you can do before then to prevent hearing loss from occurring in the first place. 

Protect your ears

You wouldn’t drive without wearing a seatbelt. So if you’re going to be in an environment where you know the volume will be loud, such as a concert, then why not wear ear protectors, the hearing equivalent of seatbelts? There have been great developments in this sector in recent years. Today, you can get hearing protectors that don’t muffle the sound at all but still protect your ears. It’s especially recommended to wear some sort of ear protection if you’re in an environment where the noise regularly exceeds 70 decibels.

Lower your music volume

We tend to think of hearing loss that only affects older people. However, this is increasingly not the case. While young people have been going to concerts for decades, it’s only relatively recently that they’ve been wearing earphones that allow them to listen to music on the move. The problem with this is that many people turn the volume up to dangerous levels just so they can drown out the noise of the outside world. Repeated exposure to this deafening music can cause damage to the ears over time. A good solution is to invest in noise-canceling headphones, which allow you to hear music wherever you are, without turning the music up.

Workplace hazards

Some people experience hearing loss as a result of their lifestyle (such as listening to music/attending concerts). However, there are also occupational hazards that can cause damage to the ears. For example, people who work in factories or construction sites, where loud noises aren’t just consistent — but louder than healthy. If you work in such an environment, then it’s important that you’re taking additional steps to protect your ears by wearing ear protection. Your boss should provide the equipment that you need.

Visit an audiologist

An audiologist can help to identify potential problems early on. Through the course of getting your hearing tested, they’ll be able to see if there are factors that will lead to future hearing issues in the future. Sometimes, even a gentle shift in one direction (such as learning the current habits that may contribute to hearing issues) can be enough to prevent hearing loss. If it’s something that you’re already experiencing, then they’ll be able to recommend treatment options, such as having a hearing aid fitted. This will help you to hear much better and can also prevent the issue from becoming more profound.