Approximately 12.5% of children aged six to 19 and 17% of adults aged 20 to 69 have suffered permanent hearing damage from excessive noise exposure. Those with hearing loss often suffer negative ramifications in their work, school, personal relationships and mental health. While hearing aids are an effective treatment option that can help mitigate the adverse side effects of the condition, protecting yourself from noise-induced hearing loss is an excellent way to safeguard your health in 2024.
Let’s take a look at noise-induced hearing loss and how you can protect yourself against it.
How Can Loud Noise Damage Your Hearing?
Your ears contain tiny hair cells responsible for transmitting sound to the brain. When you are exposed to loud noise, the tiny hair cells in your ear can become overworked and die. Because damage to the hair cells is generally permanent, protecting your hearing at all times is essential in preventing hearing loss.
How Can You Protect Your Hearing?
The Centers for Disease Control defines the threshold for hearing loss as exposure to noise over 70 decibels (dB) for a prolonged period or over 120 dB immediately. A few ways to protect your hearing when you come into contact with noise above the threshold for hearing loss include:
- Wear ear protection. Ear protection like earmuffs or earplugs dampens the force with which sound hits your ears, reducing damage to your inner ear hair cells. Ear protection is an excellent option for protecting your hearing during fireworks displays, concerts at Bothell Landing Park Amphitheatre and loud movies.
- Turn down the volume. Personal devices like TVs, radios, cell phones and more are frequent sources of loud noise exposure. Avoid turning TVs and radios higher than is safe, and consider setting a decibel limit on your cell phone. Decibel limits will prevent you from turning the volume up on music or other media higher than is safe.
- Choose headphones carefully. Noise-canceling over-the-ear headphones are generally considered a safer alternative to in-the-ear options. The noise-canceling features combined with over-the-ear cups allow you to listen to your media at safer decibels without outside noise causing you to raise the volumes.
By wearing earplugs or earmuffs and limiting your exposure to unsafe noise levels, you can make 2024 the year of better hearing protection. To learn more about hearing loss or schedule a hearing test, contact Hearing Advancement Center today to make an appointment with one of our specialists.
