You’ve most likely already noticed that your hearing is failing. In most cases, we don’t even recognize that our choices are negatively affecting our hearing.
With a few basic lifestyle changes, many kinds of hearing loss can be prevented. What follows are 6 secrets that will help you preserve your hearing.
1. Manage Your Blood Pressure
It’s not okay if your blood pressure remains high. A study found that hearing loss was 52% more likely with individuals who have above average blood pressure and they are more likely to have other health issues as well.
Take steps to reduce your blood pressure and avoid hearing damage. See a doctor right away and never disregard your high blood pressure. Management of blood pressure includes proper diet, exercise, stress management, and following your doctor’s orders.
2. Stop Smoking
There are plenty of good reasons to quit smoking, here’s yet another: Hearing loss is 15% more likely to impact smokers. What’s even more surprising is that there’s a 28% higher probability of someone experiencing hearing problems if they are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke. Even if you leave the room, smoke hangs around for long periods of time with detrimental consequences.
Consider protecting your hearing, if you smoke, by quitting. If you hang out with a smoker, take actions to decrease your exposure to second-hand smoke.
3. Control Your Diabetes
Diabetes or pre-diabetes impacts one out of four adults. A pre-diabetic person is extremely likely to get diabetes within 5 years if they don’t make significant lifestyle changes.
High blood sugar harms blood vessels, which makes it very difficult for them to effectively carry nutrients. A diabetic person is more than two times as likely to cope with hearing loss compared to a non-diabetic person.
If you have diabetes, take the steps required to properly control it. If you are at risk of getting type 2 diabetes, protect your hearing by making lifestyle changes to prevent it.
4. Lose Some Weight
This is more about your health than feeling great about your body image. Hearing loss and other health problems rise as your Body Mass Index (BMI) increases. A slightly obese woman (with a 30 to 34 BMI) has a 17% higher chance of getting hearing loss. A moderately obese person has a 25% risk of hearing loss if they have a BMI of 40.
Work to eliminate some of that extra weight. Something as simple as walking for 30 minutes every day can lower your risk of hearing loss and prolong your life.
5. OTC Drugs Shouldn’t be Overused
Some over-the-counter (OTC) medicines can cause hearing loss. The risk increases when these drugs are taken on a regular basis over prolonged periods of time.
Typical over-the-counter drugs that affect hearing include aspirin, NSAIDs (such as naproxen, ibuprofen), and acetaminophen. Take these medications in moderation and only with your doctor’s advice if you need to take them more frequently.
If you’re using the recommended dose for the occasional headache, studies suggest you’ll most likely be okay. Taking them every day, however, increases the chance of hearing loss by up to 40% for men.
Your doctor’s orders should always be implemented. But if you’re using these medications each day to manage chronic pain or thin your blood, consult your doctor about lifestyle changes you can implement to decrease your dependence on OTC drugs.
6. Eat More Broccoli
Broccoli is packed with iron as well as important nutrients such as vitamins C and K. Iron is essential to blood circulation and a healthy heart. Iron helps your blood transport oxygen and nutrients to cells to keep them healthy and nourished.
If you’re a vegetarian or don’t eat much meat, it’s critical that you consume enough plant-based iron. You’re more likely to be iron deficient because the iron found in plants is less bioavailable than the iron found in meat.
More than 300,000 individuals were examined by Pennsylvania State University. The researchers discovered participants with anemia (extreme iron deficiency) were two times as likely to experience sensorineural hearing loss as those without the condition. Age-related permanent hearing loss is what the technical term “sensorineural hearing loss” refers to.
Sound is received and transmitted to the brain by tiny little hairs in the inner ear which vibrate with the frequency and volume of that sound. If poor circulation or an iron deficiency causes these little hairs to die they will never grow back.
Don’t wait to get a hearing exam because you’re never too young. Prevent hearing loss by implementing these simple tips in your day-to-day life.