An estimated 15% of U.S. adults have hearing loss. One of the biggest misconceptions about hearing loss is that, once you develop it, additional hearing protection no longer matters. The truth is that hearing protection is crucial at every stage. While you can’t stop age-related hearing loss, you can do a few things to protect against preventable causes like noise exposure.
Use Hearing Protection Around Loud Sounds
If you know you’ll be somewhere loud, bring hearing protection with you. Earplugs can reduce the force of sound reaching your ears and help limit the effects of excessive noise exposure. Earplugs are crucial at concerts, sporting events at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, festivals, construction sites or when using loud equipment like drills, lawn mowers and leaf blowers.
Pay Attention to Headphone Volume
Headphones and earbuds can expose your ears to excessive and damaging sound levels.
Try to keep the volume at a comfortable level rather than turning it up to compete with background noise. Many phones offer built-in hearing safety or volume-limit settings that can help you monitor your listening habits. Place a limit of no more than 80 decibels on your phone.
You can also wear noise-canceling or over-the-ear headphones to reduce the need to raise the volume when you’re in a noisy environment.
Wear Your Hearing Aids Consistently
If you have hearing aids, wearing them consistently can also play an important role in maintaining your ability to communicate and process sound.
When hearing loss goes untreated for an extended period, the brain receives less auditory information. As you begin using hearing aids, it may take time for your brain to adjust to sounds that have become unfamiliar. Regular hearing-aid use gives your brain more opportunities to receive and interpret speech and other everyday sounds.
Don’t Wait for a Problem To Get Worse
Hearing can change gradually, making it difficult to recognize small differences from day to day. Regular hearing evaluations provide an opportunity to track those changes and identify whether your hearing has remained stable or declined.
If it has been a while since your last hearing evaluation, or you’re noticing changes in your hearing, schedule a test with one of our specialists at Austin Auditory Specialists.