Everyday Steps for Healthy Hearing

Although it might seem easy to protect your hearing over a lifetime, there are actually a lot of different things to consider when it comes to keeping yourself healthy. Your hearing can be affected by many different sources that you might not even notice, cumulatively damaging your hearing over many years. Here are some steps you can take in your everyday life to keep your hearing healthy and effective.

Avoid Loud Sources

This might seem like an obvious step, but you might be surprised to learn that everyday noises can damage your hearing more than you think. Being in situations where you need to raise your voice to be heard can even too loud, so it’s important to manage noise levels as much as you can. This includes listening to music or the television at responsible levels. It can also include avoiding loud traffic, events, or machinery if at all possible. If you do experience ringing or a muffled feeling after extended loud noises, you should be sure to avoid these things for a day or so after in order to give your hearing time to recover.

Use Hearing Protection

This step goes hand-in-hand with avoiding loud sources, since this might not always be possible due to your lifestyle or profession. For this reason, it’s important to use effective ear-plugs or noise-canceling headphones if your job involves loud machinery or you regularly attend concerts. If you already use these, you can consider purchasing custom-made earpieces that will fit comfortably and more effectively shield your hearing. Outside of these events, it’s also important to use hearing protection if you regularly do things like ride a motorcycle or drive a loud vehicle. For any regular exposure to loud noises, you should consider using hearing protection.

Get Tested

Although you may not undergo this step as often as the above ones, it’s still highly important to be regularly screened by an audiologist who can assess whether you’re experiencing any hearing loss. If your audiologist determines you are, they can recommend steps to take and lifestyle changes, as well as your hearing aid options for the long term. Although the frequency of screenings can vary by each patient, your audiologist can recommend the right schedule for you.

If you think you’re experiencing hearing loss or would like to learn more about how to prevent it, schedule an appointment with our audiologists at our Tuscaloosa office. You can schedule an appointment by calling or filling out our online form.