3 Proactive Steps to Protect Your Ears

The most common cause of hearing loss is aging, but many younger adults experience hearing loss for another reason – noise. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders reports roughly 26 million adults between the ages of 20-69 have noise-induced hearing loss. As the term noise induced implies, this type of hearing loss is caused by exposure to damaging noises that occur in everyday life, whether at work or during leisure activities. The best way to avoid becoming a part of this statistic is to be proactive about noise protection.

1. Protect from volumes you can’t control

We’re all exposed to loud noises we can’t control – heavy equipment, sirens, loud concerts and heavy traffic. Short exposure to these and other noises that exceed 85 decibels isn’t much of a concern, but the higher the decibel level reaches, the shorter the time span before our ears suffer permanent nerve damage. For instance, just 15 minutes of exposure to 115 decibels (the rating of a loud rock concert) is enough to damage your hearing.

Protect yourself from prolonged exposure to loud noises by wearing hearing protection – whether noise-canceling headsets or earplugs – and keeping as much distance between yourself and loud noise sources as possible.

2. Turn the noise down

The volume settings on listening devices like stereos and television sets aren’t as hard to keep at reasonable levels as personal headphones or earbuds. Without realizing it, we often increase the volume of in-ear devices to accommodate noises in the environment around us. A safe practice is to never exceed 50 percent of a device’s max volume. Also, if others around you can hear your music, it’s probably too loud.

3. Watch for early signs of hearing loss

If you find yourself turning up the volume on listening devices more than usual, it could be an early sign of hearing damage. In addition to wearing ear protection and turning the volume down, schedule a hearing check-up with an audiologist to ensure your auditory system is working in optimal shape. Catching hearing loss in the early stages is easier to address than waiting until it affects your health in other ways.

Don’t be an early statistic of noise-induced hearing loss: get proactive about protecting your hearing from one of its worse threats and, with the help of an audiologist, treat mild hearing loss as soon as symptoms occur.