The first thing to do, when you begin to recognize that you have hearing loss, is to eliminate further damage. There are, after all, some straightforward steps you can take to safeguard your hearing and limit further hearing loss.
Step 1: Clean Your Ears
Did you clean behind your ears? It’s one of those early hygiene lessons you learn (or should have learned), right? But it’s actually the inner ear we’re concerned with keeping clean when it comes to hearing health, not behind the ears.
Keeping your ears clear of wax accumulation can help your hearing in a number of different ways:
- Your brain and ability to interpret sound will inevitably be affected by neglected hearing loss.
- If you use a hearing aid, earwax buildup can hinder its function as well. This may make it seem as though your hearing is getting worse.
- Unkempt ears increase your odds of developing an ear infection, which leads to inflammation that (when serious enough) interferes with your ability to hear. When your ear infection clears, your normal hearing will normally return.
- Sound can be blocked from reaching the inner ear when there’s too much wax buildup. This reduces your ability to hear.
If you find earwax buildup, it’s absolutely not suggested that you dig around in there with a cotton swab. Further damage can be caused by cotton swabs and they will often make it even harder to hear. Over the counter ear drops are a smarter choice.
Step 2: Avoid Loud Noises
This one should almost be left off the list it’s so obvious. But determining how loud is too loud is the real problem for most individuals. For example, highway driving can be loud enough to damage your hearing over a long time period. Also, surprisingly, your lawn mower can take a toll on your hearing. As you can tell, it’s not just blaring speakers or loud rock concerts that harm your ears.
Here are a few ways to avoid damaging noise:
- Staying away from turning the volume up on your headphones when you’re watching videos or listening to music. When hazardous volumes are being approached, most phones come with a built in warning.
- When you can’t steer clear of loud environments, wear hearing protection. Do you work on a noisy factory floor? Going to see a rock concert? That’s fun. Just use the correct ear protection. Modern earmuffs and earplugs supply ample protection.
- Using an app on your phone to notify you when decibel levels reach unsafe thresholds.
Damage to the ears from noise doesn’t develop all of a sudden, it progresses gradually. So, even if your hearing “feels” fine after a noisy event, it may not be. You can only get a clean bill of health for your ears by a hearing professional.
Step #3: If You Have Any Hearing Impairment – Get it Addressed
Hearing impairment accumulates generally speaking. So recognizing any damage early on will help prevent added injury. That’s why getting treated is tremendously important in terms of decreasing hearing loss. Your hearing will get the greatest benefit if you find and follow through on practical treatment.
Here’s how treatments work:
- The potential of developing hearing loss related health issues is reduced by using hearing aids because they prevent social isolation and brain strain.
- We can provide personalized guidance and advice to help you prevent further damage to your hearing.
- Some, but not all damage can be avoided by using hearing aids. Hearing aids will, for instance, allow you to listen to music or the TV at a lower volume, avoiding damage. Because hearing aids prevent this damage, they can also prevent further decline of your hearing.
Limiting Hearing Loss Will Benefit You in The Future
Although we don’t have a cure for hearing loss, further damage can be avoided with treatment. One of the main ways to do that, in many situations, is hearing aids. The correct treatment will help you preserve your current level of hearing and stop it from worsening.
Your giving yourself the best opportunity for healthy hearing into the future by using ear protection, getting the correct treatment, and exercising good hearing hygiene.