Hearing loss is a common health condition to experience, and sometimes, it’s rather natural. For instance, most people past the age of 65 will have at least some hearing loss. In fact, age is by far one of the most common predictors of hearing loss, but it’s certainly nowhere near the last.
To some degree, you do have a little control over how much hearing damage you sustain over the course of a lifetime. This is especially true depending on your personal and professional environment. This is why it’s essential to try and implement good lifestyle habits, and to avoid situational exposure to issues that can cause prolonged problems. Luckily, understanding around hearing damage has increased dramatically in the last twenty years, meaning that if you follow official advice, you should be fine.
Hearing loss can also develop as a medical condition, and in those cases it’s important to speak to an audiologist or hearing doctor to ensure you’re finding the correct treatment. With that in mind, please consider some of the following advice:
Ear Protection & Defenders
Unfortunately, loud environments can cause a great deal of damage to our hearing capabilities. This is especially true if we’re exposed to it for long periods at a time. It’s why understanding earplugs and ear defenders are so important, and why in loud work environments you should always make sure these are worn, and provided to you. You can also wear them in loud settings like concerts if you really need, and they can also be helpful to sleep at night if you live in a noisy area.
Professional Hearing Care
It’s important to gain professional hearing care, or at least an audiologist assessment if you think issues are starting to show. Knowing the signs ahead of time, from tightness in the ear drum, to tinnitus, and even headaches can be signs that your hearing health is diminishing. With regular testing you can see the arc of your hearing health maintenance or degradation, and you’ll always have a means to expand your hearing capabilities, be that with the right hearing device, or altering your environment. This may even bring up any medical issues you have, such as inflammation of the ear itself.
Consider Health Conditions
Sometimes, a health condition or changed lifestyle factor can be a sign of hearing loss. For example, if you notice that you’ve been having more headaches as of late, you have dental pressure that seems to be affecting your ears, or perhaps you have trouble following conversations and feel frustrated because of it, it’s important to recognize that your hearing could be at fault. This doesn’t mean you need to be hyper-aware of everything going on around you at once, and constantly evaluating your hearing capabilities, but if you do notice an impact in how you perceive or engage with the world (even if your balance is a little off as of late), it can’t hurt to be checked out. This way, a possible problem can be prevented from becoming a full-blown diagnosis.
With this advice, we hope you can avoid hearing damage in as many situations as possible.
