3 Daily Habits To Protect Your Hearing

 

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Hearing loss, in some respects, comes for us all. As we get older, our ears are no longer capable of hearing the highest frequencies we might have heard as a child. For example, when you were a young teen, perhaps you could just about hear the dog whistle your parents used to call your pooch. But now you’re an adult looking after your own dog, you may not hear that whistle at all.

Of course, such is to be expected. But it’s also true that like many other health conditions, how we care for our wellbeing can have an important impact on the preservation of our capabilities. That doesn’t mean people with hearing loss are necessarily unhealthy in general or made poor decisions, only that being mindful of lifestyle factors can help you avoid triggering unnecessary harm.

So, what are those lifestyle factors? Well in this post, we hope to help you protect your hearing through some worthwhile, helpful habits:

Check Your Earbud Volume

It’s way too easy to crank up the volume when your favorite song comes on, but keeping your earbuds at a high volume can be damaging to your hearing over time. A good general rule is to keep your volume at 60% or lower and to give your ears regular breaks. If you’re in a noisy environment, it might be tempting to raise the volume even higher, but doing so can strain your ears more than you realize, so do so in moderation or not at all.

If you do that generally, it can be worth investing in noise-cancelling headphones to reduce the need for higher volumes, like when you’re on a commute. Just make sure you don’t wear these while crossing the road or in general urban areas for safety reasons. Of course, new methods of watching TV with hearing loss is possible with hearing aid devices that connect to bluetooth, also.

Wear Ear Protection 

You might not work a super loud job, but hardly anyone avoids loud sounds forever. Also yes, even those with hearing loss can experience hearing damage from loud sounds, even if they can’t hear them as well. Wearing ear protection when appropriate is a smart way to preserve your hearing. Earplugs or noise-cancelling earmuffs can significantly reduce the amount of loud noise your ears are exposed to such as in super loud concerts, loud jobs or even on your lawn mower. Many people overlook this, thinking that short-term exposure won’t cause harm, but it can add up over time.

Learn To Clear Earwax Correctly

Earwax is generally a good thing - it helps to clear unwanted bacteria from your ears. However, too much of it can lead to blockages and affect your hearing, and it’s not exactly comfortable to have an excess. That said, it’s important to clear earwax safely, without pushing it further into your ear canal. Avoid using cotton swabs, which can do more harm than good, and instead, consider safer methods like ear drops (even a good quality olive oil with a dropper can help), as it’s designed to soften the wax so it can be removed naturally.

With this advice, you’ll be certain to practice daily habits to protect hearing health.

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