The first thing to do, when you begin to recognize that you have hearing loss, is to avoid added damage. After all, you can take some simple actions to avoid further damage and protect your ears.
Step 1: Keep Your Ears Clean
Remember learning to make sure you clean behind your ears when you learned general hygiene (or at least should have learned). But it’s actually the inner ear we’re worried about cleaning in terms of hearing health, not behind the ears.
There are multiple ways that keeping your ears free of wax can help your hearing:
- If you use a hearing aid, earwax accumulation can interfere with its function also. You might end up feeling like your hearing is going downhill because of this.
- Unkempt ears raise your odds of getting an ear infection, which causes inflammation that (when serious enough) interferes with your ability to hear. When your ear infection goes away, your normal hearing will normally return.
- Over time, neglected hearing loss can impact your brain and your ability to interpret sounds.
- Sound can be blocked from reaching the inner ear when there’s too much wax buildup. This reduces your ability to hear.
If you observe earwax accumulation, it’s absolutely not recommended that you dig around in there with a cotton swab. Further damage can be caused by cotton swabs and they will often worsen your ability to hear. Alternatively, use over-the-counter ear drops.
Step 2: Avoid Loud Noises
This one should almost be left off the list it’s so obvious. The issue is that most individuals aren’t entirely certain what a “loud noise” actually is. For example, highway driving can be loud enough to damage your ears over an extended period of time. The motor on your lawnmower can be pretty taxing on your ears, as well. Obviously, it’s more than rock concerts or high volume speakers that cause hearing impairment.
Here are a few ways to avoid damaging noise:
- Refraining from cranking the volume up on your headphones when you’re watching videos or listening to music. When hazardous volumes are being approached, most phones have a built in warning.
- When volume levels get too loud, an app on your phone can warn you of that.
- Using hearing protection when loud environments are unavoidable. Do you work on a loud factory floor? Going to see a rock concert? That’s great. But be sure to wear the appropriate protection for your hearing. A perfect illustration would be earmuffs and earplugs.
The damage to your hearing from loud noises will build up slowly. So if you’ve attended a loud event, you could have done damage even if you don’t realize it. Only a hearing professional can give your hearing a clean bill of health.
Step #3: If You Have Any Hearing Loss – Get it Addressed
Generally speaking, hearing impairment is cumulative. So recognizing any damage early on will go a long way to preventing added injury. So in terms of stopping hearing loss, treatment is so significant. Your hearing will get the greatest benefit if you find and follow through on effective treatment.
Here’s how treatments work:
- Hearing aids can stop some, but not all, damage. For instance, hearing aids will prevent you from cranking your television volume up so loud it harms your ears. Hearing aids will prevent additional degeneration of your hearing by stopping this damage.
- The potential of developing hearing loss related health issues is reduced by wearing hearing aids because they minimize social solitude and brain strain.
- Our guidance will help you learn to safeguard your hearing because it is customized and personalized for you.
Limiting Hearing Impairment Will Benefit You in The Future
Even though we can’t cure hearing loss, further damage can be avoided with treatment. One of the principal ways to do that, in many situations, is hearing aids. Getting the proper treatment will not only stop additional damage but also keep your present hearing level intact.
Your giving yourself the best opportunity for healthy hearing into the future by wearing ear protection, getting the correct treatment, and exercising good hearing hygiene.