Healthy Hearing Resolutions for the New Year

It’s the New Year, which for most of us means vowing to eat better, work out more, and save more money. But we might want to add to this list the resolution to preserve our hearing.

In 2016, we read countless reports about the expanding epidemic of hearing loss. The World Health Organization has alerted us that billions of people are at risk from exposure to loud noise volumes at work, at home, and at play.

We also discovered that even teens are at risk, as the rate of hearing loss in teens is 30 percent higher than it was in the 90s.

The bottom line is that our hearing can be harmed at work, while attending live shows, and even at home via the use of earbuds and headphones played at elevated volumes.

This year, let’s all start off on the right track by making some basic resolutions to protect and maintain our hearing health.

1. Know how loud is too loud

First, how loud is too loud, and how can you know when your hearing is at risk?

To start with, sound is measured in units called decibels. As the decibel level rises, the intensity level of the sound increases along with the risk of hearing damage.

Here’s a list of sounds with their matching decibel levels. Remember that anything above 85 decibels can potentially damage your hearing with continuous exposure.

• Whisper in a quiet library – 30 decibels (dB)
• Normal conversation – 60 dB
• City traffic – 85 dB
• Jackhammer at 50 feet – 95 dB
• Motorcycle – 100 dB
• MP3 player at maximum volume – 100+ dB
• Power saw at three feet – 110 dB
• Loud rock concert – 115 dB
• 12-Gauge Shotgun Blast – 165 dB

Remember that with the decibel scale, a 10 dB increase is perceived by the human ear as being twice as loud. This means that a rock concert at 110 dB is 32 times louder than a normal conversation at 60 dB.

2. Protect your ears

Hearing damage is determined by three factors: 1) the volume or intensity of the sound, 2) the period of time subjected to the sound, and 3) the distance between your ears and the sound source.

That means, in general, there are three ways you can protect against hearing damage from exposure to loud noise:

1. Limit the volume with the use of earplugs (or by lowering the volume on a music player).
2. Limit the time of exposure to the noise either by avoiding it or by taking rest breaks.
3. Increase the distance from the sound source as much as possible (for example, not standing directly in front of the speakers during a rock concert).

The following are some other tips to protect your hearing:

• Utilize the 60/60 rule when listening to music on a mobile device—listen for no more than 60 minutes at 60 percent of the maximum volume.
• Consult with your employer about its hearing protection programs if you work in an at-risk profession.
• Use hearing protection at loud venues and during loud activities. Inexpensive foam earplugs are available at your local pharmacy, and custom made earplugs are available from your local hearing specialist.
• Invest in noise-cancelling headphones. These headphones block external sound so you can listen to the music at decreased volumes.
• Invest in musicians plugs, a special type of earplug that reduces volume without generating the dull sound of foam earplugs.

3. Know the signs and symptoms of hearing loss

Hearing loss occurs when the nerve cells of the inner ear are damaged. The following are a few of the signs of hearing loss to look for immediately after exposure to loud sounds:

• Ringing in the ears, which is stands for tinnitus.
• The feeling of “fullness” in your ears.
• Difficulty comprehending speech, where everything sounds muffled.

Those are some of the signs of hearing damage immediately after exposure. Here are the signs of long-term hearing loss:

• Asking other people to repeat themselves often, or frequently misunderstanding what people are saying.
• Having trouble following conversations and making fine distinctions between similar sounding words.
• Turning the TV or radio volume up to the level where others notice.
• Thinking that other people are always mumbling.
• Having trouble hearing on the phone.

Quite often, your friends or family members will be the first to notice your hearing loss. It’s easy to brush this off, but in our experience, if somebody is told they have hearing loss by a family member, chances are good that they do.

4. Get a hearing test

Finally, it’s critical to get a hearing test, for a couple of reasons. One, if your hearing is normal, you can not only inform others that your hearing is fine, you’ll also establish a baseline to compare future hearing tests.

Second, if the hearing test does display hearing loss, you can work together with your hearing care expert to choose the appropriate hearing plan, which typically includes hearing aids. And with modern day technology, you can restore your hearing and improve almost every aspect of your life.