5 Common-Sense Tips to Prevent Hearing Loss

While hearing loss is a common problem, it is unfortunate that it is often ignored and overlooked. Unlike other health problems that are dealt with more carefully, hearing loss can make a person’s life miserable. Moreover, people usually aren’t too concerned about their hearing ability. Common problems such as exposure to loud sounds and noises for a prolonged period of time are overlooked. For most people, it isn’t even a concern. However, hearing loss is a serious issue that needs to be tackled with extreme care. Once damaged, your sense of hearing cannot be repaired. Naturally, ears should be protected at every cost, and here are five simple tips to help.

Stay Away from Loud Noises

As mentioned above, exposure to loud noises and sounds can cause permanent damage to the ears and eventually lead to loss of hearing. However, determining the loudness of a sound isn’t easy for most people. As a rule of thumb, if the sound or noise is able to drown out the background noise or prevent you from hearing what others are saying, then it is too loud. Therefore, always try to keep away from loud sounds and noises. If you listen to music on headphones, never do so in a manner where you are unable to hear external sounds.

Use Earplugs

If you can’t keep away from loud sounds and noises, try to use earplugs to limit the exposure. For instance, if your job involves being around large speakers or loud music, using earplugs or earmuffs will significantly reduce the chances of damaging your ears. You can also try taking short breaks by leaving the area with loud sounds and noises.

Don’t Put Up With Noise at Work

If your workplace is too loud and noisy, submit a complaint to your human resources (HR) manager and try to get the noise levels down. While it may not seem like much, tension at work coupled with loud noise can cause great damage to the ears. Moreover, as you are likely to spend quite a few hours at work, the exposure will be long term and will increase the probability of later suffering from hearing loss.

Don’t Listen to Loud Music in Confined Spaces

While listening to loud music is harmful in itself, it can be even more damaging and harmful if the music is played in a confined space, such as a car. As the sound has nowhere to go, it will seem even louder. Without any outflow, the music will cause a great deal of damage to your ears.

Limit the Time You Listen to Loud Music

If you love your music and want it to be played loudly, you can put a limit on the amount of time you listen to it. For instance, rather than listening to loud music for two hours straight, set the limit to an hour, and split that that into short bursts. This way, you will not only be able to enjoy music, but also prevent hearing loss.