Pizza is a fascinating thing. As long as a few criteria are met, you can switch toppings, cheese, and sauce, and it’s still a pizza. That’s similar to hearing loss. Symptoms and presentations are caused by many different problems, loud noises, genetics, age, or ear obstructions, but as long as you have a hard time hearing sounds, it’s still hearing loss.
Normally, when you’re facing hearing loss (regardless of the variety), the first thing you need to do is attempt to limit the damage. You can, after all, take some basic measures to limit further damage and protect your ears.
Tip 1: Keep your ears clean
Did you wash behind your ears? It’s one of those early hygiene lessons you learn, or should have learned, right? When it comes to hearing health, we’re not concerned with the areas behind your ears, but rather your inner ears.
Keeping your ears free of wax accumulation can help your hearing in a variety of different ways:
- Sound waves going to your ears can be blocked when a significant amount of earwax builds up. When this happens you won’t be able to hear as well.
- Unkempt ears raise your risk of getting an ear infection, which causes swelling that when severe enough, interferes with your hearing. Your hearing will normally return to normal after the infection is gone.
- Earwax accumulation also interferes with the functionality of your hearing aid if you have one. This could make it seem as if your hearing is getting worse.
A cotton swab is absolutely not the right tool to use to get any earwax that you may have noticed out and is strongly discouraged. Cotton swabs can lead to damage and will almost always worsen the situation. Over-the-counter ear drops are encouraged as an alternative.
Tip 2: Really loud noises should be averted
This is so evident that it sort of goes without saying. The problem is that most people are hard-pressed to characterize what a “loud noise” really is. For instance, freeway driving can be loud enough to harm your ears over a long period of time. The motor on your lawnmower can be pretty straining on your ears, also. As you can tell, it isn’t only blaring speakers or loud rock concerts that damage your ears.
Some useful ways to avoid harmful noises include:
- Abstaining from turning the volume up on your headphones when you’re watching videos or listening to tunes. The majority of phones offer built-in alerts when you’re nearing a hazardous threshold.
- Using ear protection when loud settings are unavoidable. Do you work on a noisy industrial floor? It’s okay if you want to attend that rock concert. But you should use the correct hearing protection. You can get enough protection with modern earmuffs and earplugs.
- Using an app on your phone to let you know when decibel levels reach dangerous thresholds.
There’s a slow development to hearing loss that’s caused by loud sound. So, even if your hearing “feels” okay after a loud event, that doesn’t mean it is. We can only help you figure out if you have hearing loss if you call for an appointment.
Tip 3: If you have any hearing loss, deal with it
In most instances, hearing loss accumulates slowly over an extended period of time. So, the sooner you catch the damage, the better you’ll be able to protect against added damage. When it comes to hearing loss, that’s why treatment is so important. Your hearing will be in the best situation if you get treatment and implement it.
Here’s how treatments work:
- We will help you avoid further damage to your ears by providing you with personalized instructions when you come in for an assessment.
- Hearing aids reduce the brain strain and social isolation that exacerbate hearing loss-related health conditions.
- Some, but not all damage can be avoided by wearing hearing aids. For instance, hearing aids will prevent you from cranking the volume of your television up so loud it harms your ears. Because hearing aids prevent this damage, they can also stop further deterioration of your hearing.
In the long run, you will be helped by using hearing aids
Even though we can’t cure hearing loss, we are doing hard work to help you limit further damage. Treatment of hearing loss is usually one of the best approaches to that. The appropriate treatment will help you maintain your current level of hearing and stop it from getting worse.
You’re taking the correct measures to prevent hearing loss and put yourself in the best situation to continue to have healthy hearing if you practice good hygiene, use ear protection, and come see us for regular hearing tests.