At the turn of a New Year, our thoughts often turn to how we can improve our overall health. Diet and exercise are common themes, but hearing health is often not considered. We’re here to advocate that you should make your hearing healthcare a priority.
Here are five hearing healthcare resolutions to make in the new year.
5 Hearing Healthcare Resolutions to Make in the New Year
You can make your hearing healthcare a priority this year with these 5 resolutions.
1. Protect Your Hearing When Exposed to Loud Noise
Up to 10 million Americans have irreversible Noise Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL), according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). NIHL is a preventable hearing loss, and can affect people of all ages.
If you are conversing with someone next to you, and keep asking them to raise their voice, you may have been exposed to noise that is considered above safe volume. Exposure can occur at home, in the workplace, or in recreational settings.
The first step to protecting your hearing in noisy environments is understanding what is considered “noisy.” Put simply, any noise above 75 decibels (dB) can pose a threat. (Normal conversation is around 60 dB). If you know that you are going to be in a noisy environment, take preventative measures and wear earplugs or other protective hearing gear.
You can also verify if the environment you’re in is dangerously loud using your smartphone. Look for sound level meters in your phone’s app store. There are a number of free options you can download, such as Decibel X. Download for Android here, or for Apple here.
2. Don’t Stick Things In Your Ear
Please do not put foreign objects in your ear. This includes things like cotton swabs. It’s common for many of us to use cotton swabs to clean out the inside of our ears. We advise against this!
Not only is a little bit of earwax normal in your ear, it serves an important function. Wax can stop dust and other harmful material getting into your ear canal. There’s also a risk that you can damage your eardrum with a cotton swab, or cause an impaction by pushing wax further into your canal. Learn more about safe earwax removal here.
3. Keep Your Ears Dry
Excess moisture in your ears can allow harmful bacteria to enter your ear canal. This can result in swimmer’s ear or other other ear infections. In some cases, infections can cause hearing loss.
You can reduce your risks by keeping your ears dry. When your ears are exposed to moisture, such as from swimming, bathing or being caught in the rain, gently towel dry your ears. If you feel like you have water inside your ear, tilt your head slightly to the side and gently pull on your earlobe. If your ears are regularly exposed to moisture, you may want to consider using custom-fit swimmers’ earplugs that block water from entering the canal entirely.
4. Wear Your Hearing Aids
If your hearing healthcare specialists has advised that you use hearing aids, please do wear them. Using a hearing aid can significantly improve your quality of life. It can also help keep you safe! There are numerous benefits to wearing a hearing aid, click here to read additional benefits.
5. Maintain Regular Hearing Assessments
An annual hearing assessment should be a routine part of looking after your physical health. Hearing loss often develops gradually, meaning you may not even notice it until later stages. The earlier your hearing healthcare professional identifies your hearing loss, the better chances you have of improving your hearing.
Book in a hearing assessment with the hearing healthcare professionals at Anderson Audiology today. Call the team today on 702-997-2964. Alternatively, click here to request an appointment online.