A person’s sense of hearing can be vital for their day-to-day quality of life. It allows us to hear and communicate with one another verbally, to enjoy music and the auditory experiences of entertainment, to share our thoughts and ideas with the world verbally, and so much more, but over time, this significant sense can start to weaken.
There are various factors, including genetic factors and lifestyle factors, that can impact a person’s auditory health, and it’s very common for people to experience some sort of hearing loss, with millions of Americans dealing with this issue right now. What’s more, even though hearing loss is mostly associated with the elderly, it can occur at any age, so it’s always important to be careful and look after your ears as well as you can.
There are many simple lifestyle changes you can make and decisions you can take to protect your ears and general auditory healthy, from monitoring your music-listening habits to making sure you cover up your ears in certain environments. This guide will go over some top tips, as recommended by experts, to protect your hearing and prevent hearing loss as much as possible.
Get Regular Checkups with Audiologists
In order to keep their teeth and gums healthy and protected, many people don’t only brush their teeth and try to control how much sugar they eat; they also make sure to visit the dentist for regular check-ups, usually on an annual basis. This can be so important for good oral health, and the exact same logic applies to auditory health as well.
Getting a regular check-up with a professional audiologist can make a massive difference in your personal fight against hearing loss and other auditory issues affecting parts of the ear like the eustachian tubes or inner ear bones. Audiologists will be able to spot the signs of hearing loss or inner-ear damage early on and suggest treatments, hearing aids, or lifestyle changes accordingly.
Wear Protection
There are various factors that can cause hearing loss or damage to your ears, and loud sounds are a prominent example of this. It’s often the case that people who work in noisy environments or spend a lot of time listening to loud music and exposing their ears to excessive noise can struggle with hearing loss earlier in life than the national average.
A good way to combat this is to make sure you wear proper protection when loud sounds are present. For example, if you’re a factory worker surrounded by loud machinery, consider wearing some good quality ear muffs to help muffle those sounds and protect your ears, or if you love live music and don’t want to give up your concert-going habits, consider wearing earplugs so you can still enjoy the experience while also being kind to your ears.
Be Careful When Cleaning
Many people feel that they need to manually clean their ears on a regular basis to remove wax, but the truth is that the ears are self-cleaning body parts. So there really is no need for you to buy Q-tips and cotton swabs and worry about removing wax on your own. Earwax is produced naturally in the ear and gradually flows outward on its own, most of the time.
There are some cases when too much wax can build up and may need to be cleaned out, but this should be done by a professional, or with the aid of proper products that are designed to remove earwax, rather than rudimentary swabs, and you definitely shouldn’t put your fingers in your ears either, as this can cause the wax to become impacted, as well as introducing dirt and germs into the ear canal.
Enjoy Music in Moderation
Music is an important part of life for millions of people all over the world, and many people say that they’d prefer to deal with hearing issues later in life rather than giving up their love of music. Well, there’s no need to choose between your hearing and your love of music. You can enjoy both. The key is to simply enjoy your music in moderation.
What does this mean? Well, it’s all about getting into good habits with your music. As explained earlier on, you could consider wearing earplugs at concerts and other live events, for example, or making sure that you find a place to sit or stand that isn’t close to the speakers. When listening to music on your own, opt for over-ear headphones or speaker systems at moderate volumes, rather than in-ear buds which can be quite dangerous to the fragile bones of the inner ear.
Final Word
Making these small, simple changes in your life could lead to big benefits later on, reducing the risk of ear damage and slowing the development of hearing loss too. So if you value your sense of hearing, consider following some of these top tips today.
