Imagine if you couldn’t hear the people that you love and care about speaking to you anymore. Or, what would it be like to not be able to enjoy your favorite songs anymore?
Hearing loss is something that can affect anyone at any age. You may think that it’s just a sign of aging, however, if you don’t take care of your ears, you may find that your hearing will deteriorate.
But there are things that you can do to protect your hearing.
Here are the top five ways of looking after your hearing health.
- Get Your Hearing Tested
If you need to ask people to repeat themselves because you mishear them often, this could be a sign that you are experiencing hearing loss. If you’re having to turn the TV or your music up especially loud, then you should probably get your hearing tested.
Whether you’re experiencing hearing loss, or not, it is a good idea to have your hearing tested occasionally.
When booking an appointment for hearing loss testing, you can expect to have a few simple tests to test your hearing. This will include listening to and identifying sounds that are played to you.
Following a hearing test, an audiologist may recommend that you wear a hearing aid, have ear wax removed, or that you have an underlying infection treated.
- Stop Listening To Music Loud
One of the more common causes of hearing loss is listening to music at a high volume.
Many modern devices designed for playing music will have recommended volume settings when using headphones. Make sure that you stick to these volume levels. If needed, use noise-canceling headphones so that you cannot hear anything other than your music.
Prolonged exposure to loud noises and music could cause physical damage to your inner ear resulting in hearing loss.
- Get Ear Infections Treated
If you get an ear infection, you may be tempted to just see if it goes away on its own. While it might do that, you may be left with blocked ears or a lingering infection that could cause you damage.
Head to the doctor when you get earache and get yourself checked over.
- Wear Protective Earwear
Do you work in a noisy environment such as a factory, or a construction site? If so, you should be supplied with protective wear such as earmuffs. Make sure that you use any protective wear supplied to you.
If there is no earwear supplied to you, speak with your employer and see if they will get you any.
- Don’t Put Things In Your Ear
If you have a build-up of wax in your ear, you may be tempted to try and work this out using a Q-tip. However, putting small items such as this inside your ear canal can cause you serious damage.
Your ear has some very delicate pieces, and you may irreparably break them. If you have a build-up of wax, use ear drops to break this up instead.
