With the new year upon us, many of us plan on making changes. Resolutions often include quitting smoking, eating healthier foods, losing weight, and working out more often. How about a new years resolution to preserve our hearing? Here are a few ideas to ring in a new year while protecting our hearing in the process.
To best care for your hearing health, it is vital to know when your hearing is at risk. The unit for measuring sound is called a decibel (dB). Noise above 85 decibels can potentially damage your hearing. To give you an idea of the risks, here are a few sounds and their decibel levels:
Put simply, a hearing loss occurs when the nerve cells of the inner ear are damaged. Fortunately, there are signs of hearing damage you can look for after exposure to loud noises. Indications include the following:
The factors involved in hearing damage are the volume or intensity of the sound, the amount of time your ears are subjected to the sound, and the distance between your ears and the sound source. For this new year be aware of how you can protect your hearing:
Make 2018 the year you schedule a hearing test. If you get a test and your hearing is normal, you will have a baseline for future hearing tests. If the test does show a hearing loss, your hearing healthcare professional can work with you to select the best plan for your hearing care.
As you begin to set goals for the coming year, be sure to include taking better care of your hearing health. Other methods to protect your hearing include the following:
A new year is upon us, so make taking steps to improve your health a priority. Do not neglect your ears in the coming year either: know what sounds are too loud, take steps to protect your hearing, and schedule a hearing test.
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