Sound Advice: How To Protect Your Hearing
Contributing post
Many of us don’t realize how vital our sense of hearing is until we start to lose it. To keep your hearing sharp long into old age, here are just a few tips.
Stop using cotton buds
Do you regularly use cotton swabs to clean out your ears? If so, now is the time to stop. While cotton swabs may remove some wax, they tend to push most of the wax further into the ear. This can lead to impactions and sometimes damage to the eardrum. Cotton buds can also damage the ear canal. As a general rule, don’t stick anything in your ears to clean them – you’re much better off using ear drops.
Turn down the music
If you love to listen to music all day long, be careful of how loud you set the volume. Exposure to loud music for prolonged music can cause hearing damage. This could be particularly important advice for headphone listeners. If your ears are ringing afterward and you can still hear your music clearly through the headphones with them off your head, it’s too loud.
Protect yourself against loud noises
Prolonged exposure to other loud noises can also cause damage to our ears. If you work in a noisy environment such as a construction site or an airport, it could be necessary that you wear earplugs. Your employer should supply these – if not, it could be something worth bringing up with them.
Wear a swim cap
If you regularly go swimming in a pool, it could be time to buy yourself a swim cap. Not only can these caps protect your hair from the chlorine, but they can prevent water from getting into your ears. Having water in your ears for sustained periods can lead to swimmer’s ear – an infection that can lead to temporary hearing loss. There may also be earplugs that you can buy that are designed for swimmers.
Get tested
If you notice that you’re having trouble hearing, don’t ignore it as it could get worse. You can treat hearing loss easily with a hearing aid. First, you’ll need to take a test to help you choose the right hearing aid. There are two main tests used to measure one’s hearing – you can click here to learn more. Your local audiologist will likely be able to carry out these tests.
Exercise and keep up a good diet
Exercise and a good diet are important for your entire body – and this includes your ears. Foods like nuts, beans, and mushrooms are all vital for our ear health. Exercise meanwhile helps blood to flow to all of our extremities and can reduce stress (which has been linked to nerve damage in all of our senses). By being physically active and watching what you eat, you could prevent hearing loss.