Pizza is a fascinating thing. As long as a few criteria are met, you can alter toppings, cheese, and sauce, and it’s still a pizza. That’s similar to hearing loss. Symptoms and presentations are caused by numerous different issues, loud noises, genetics, age, or ear blockages, but as long as you have difficulty detecting sounds, it’s still hearing loss.
Frequently, when you’re facing hearing loss (regardless of the variety), the first thing you should do is try to limit the damage. There are, after all, some basic steps you can take to safeguard your hearing and limit added hearing loss.
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? But it’s inside of your ears that we’re worried about here, in terms of hearing health, not the back of your ears.
There are a number of ways that earwax buildup can impact your hearing:
- If you use a hearing aid, earwax can also interfere with that. This might give you the impression that your hearing is starting to fail.
- Sound waves going to your ears can be blocked when a substantial amount of earwax builds up. When this happens you won’t be able to hear as well.
- Unclean ears raise your risk of developing an ear infection, which causes swelling that when significant enough, disrupts your hearing. Your hearing will normally return to normal when the infection is gone.
If you observe earwax buildup, it’s absolutely not suggested that you dig around in there with a cotton swab. In most circumstances, a cotton swab will make things worse or cause added harm. Over-the-counter ear drops are encouraged instead.
Tip 2: Very loud sounds should be averted
This one is so instinctive it almost shouldn’t be on the list. The problem is that most people are hard-pressed to determine what a “loud noise” actually is. For instance, freeway travel can be loud enough to damage your ears over a long amount of time. Your ears can also be damaged by regular use of your lawn mower. As you can tell, it’s not just blasting speakers or raucous rock concerts that harm your ears.
Some practical ways to avoid harmful noises include:
- Using hearing protection when noisy settings are necessary. Do you work on the floor of a loud factory? Do you really want to go to that rock concert? That’s cool. But you should use the appropriate hearing protection. You can get enough protection with modern earmuffs and earplugs.
- Abstaining from turning the volume up on your headphones when you’re watching videos or listening to music. Most phones feature built-in alerts when you’re approaching a hazardous limit.
- When decibel levels get to a dangerous volume, you can make use of an app on your phone to alert you.
The damage to your ears from loud sounds will accumulate gradually. So, even if your hearing “feels” okay after a noisy event, that doesn’t mean it is. Only if you come in and see us can we give your ears a clean bill of health.
Tip 3: If you have any hearing loss, get it treated
In most cases, hearing loss develops slowly over an extended time period. You’ll be in a better position to protect against further damage if you recognize your hearing loss early on. That’s why treatment is tremendously important when it comes to minimizing hearing loss. Effective treatments (on which you follow through) will put your hearing in the best possible condition.
Here’s how treatments work:
- Hearing aids prevent the brain strain and social isolation that exacerbate hearing loss-related health problems.
- When you come in and see us we will give you personalized instructions and advice to help you steer clear of additional damage to your ears.
- Hearing aids can prevent some, but not all, damage. If you’re wearing hearing aids, for instance, you won’t always need to turn volumes up to damaging levels. Because hearing aids counter this damage, they can also stop further degeneration of your hearing.
Minimize hearing loss – it will benefit you over the long haul
While we know that hearing loss can’t be cured, hearing specialists are focused on limiting additional damage to your ears. Treatment of hearing loss is usually one of the best approaches to that. Your current level of hearing will be preserved and hearing loss will be prevented from getting worse with the correct treatment.
When you wear ear protection, maintain good hygiene, and get hearing loss treatment with us, you’re taking the correct measures to limit hearing loss while also giving yourself the best chance of healthy hearing in the future.