Typically, when you’re confronted with hearing loss (no matter the variety), the first thing you should do is attempt to minimize the damage. After all, you can take some basic steps to prevent additional damage and protect your ears.
Step 1: Keep Your Ears Clean
Did you clean behind your ears? It’s one of those initial hygiene lessons you learn (or should have learned), right? When it comes to hearing health, however, we’re not concerned with the space behind your ears, but rather your inner ears.
There are several ways that keeping your ears free of wax can help your hearing:
- Your hearing can also be interfered with if you get a serious ear infection which can also be caused by dirty ears. Your hearing will go back to normal after the ear infection clears.
- Over time, neglected hearing loss can affect your brain and your ability to interpret sounds.
- Earwax buildup also interferes with the operation of your hearing aid if you have one. You may end up feeling like your hearing is going downhill because of this.
- Sound can be blocked from reaching the inner ear when there’s too much wax buildup. This reduces your ability to hear.
You never resort to using a cotton swab to try and dig out built up earwax. Added damage can be done by cotton swabs and they will frequently make it even harder to hear. Instead, use over-the-counter ear drops.
Step 2: Avoid Loud Noises
This one should almost be left off the list it’s so obvious. But determining how loud is too loud is the real problem for most people. As an example, highway driving can be loud enough to damage your hearing over a long period of time. Your lawnmower motor can be fairly taxing on your ears, as well. Clearly, it’s more than rock concerts or loud speakers that cause hearing loss.
Some practical ways to escape harmful noises include:
- When you can’t avoid noisy environments, wear hearing protection. Do you work on a noisy factory floor? Do you really want to attend that rock concert? That’s great. Just wear the necessary ear protection. Modern earplugs and earmuffs provide ample protection.
- Refraining from turning the volume up on your headphones when you’re listening to music or watching videos. Most phones include built-in warnings when you’re nearing a dangerous threshold.
- Utilizing an app on your phone to alert you when volume levels reach dangerous levels.
Damage to the ears from noise doesn’t develop suddenly, it progresses slowly. So, even if your hearing “seems” okay after a loud event, it may not be. You can only get a clean bill of health for your ears by a hearing specialist.
Step #3: If You Have Any Hearing Impairment – Have it Addressed
Hearing loss accumulates generally speaking. So, the sooner you recognize the damage, the better you’ll be capable of preventing additional damage. That’s why treatment is incredibly important in terms of decreasing hearing loss. Your hearing will be at the greatest advantage if you seek out and follow through on effective treatment.
Here’s how treatments work:
- We can provide personalized guidance and advice to help you avoid further damage to your hearing.
- Hearing aids can prevent some, but not all, damage. Hearing aids will, for example, let you listen to music or the TV at a lower volume, preventing damage. Because hearing aids counter this damage, they can also prevent further decline of your hearing.
- Hearing aids stop the brain strain and social solitude that exacerbate hearing loss-related health issues.
You Will be Benefited in The Future by Limiting Hearing Loss
Although it’s true that there’s no cure for hearing loss, getting treatment for your hearing loss will help stop further damage. One of the principal ways to do that, in many cases, is hearing aids. The appropriate treatment will help you maintain your current level of hearing and stop it from getting worse.
Your giving yourself the best possibility for healthy hearing into the future by wearing ear protection, getting the appropriate treatment, and exercising good hearing hygiene.