The sense of hearing is vital for human survival. It helps you communicate, be wary of your surroundings, and enjoy all forms of media. It is an important sense that plays a crucial role in general physical and mental well-being. Unfortunately, an estimated 40 million Americans suffer from hearing problems.
If you’re experiencing hearing issues or want to take preventative measures, consider reaching out to Alexander Audiology. They are experts in the field and can provide comprehensive evaluations and personalized solutions to improve your hearing health.
Whether you have already been diagnosed with hearing impairment or not, the following tips can prevent your hearing health from worsening.
1. Wear Your Hearing Aids
Most people diagnosed with moderate to severe hearing loss require hearing aids. Hearing aids help amplify external sound waves into the brain part responsible for auditory signals. If you have been diagnosed with partial hearing loss or struggle hearing, you should check out various hearing aids from HearCanada. Beyond improving your hearing ability, wearing hearing aids also:
- Improves overall health – Wearing hearing aids has several additional health benefits. You won’t strain or use much energy to hear or speak to others.
- Improves mental health – Hearing loss significantly affects mental health. Individuals with hearing difficulties often isolate themselves, primarily because they don’t want to interfere or miss out on discussions. This explains the strong correlation between hearing loss and depression.
2. Protect Your Ears from Loud Noise
Avoiding noise and reducing the volume is an easy way to prevent hearing loss. According to the National Institute on Deafness and Communication Disorders, more than 40 million Americans have hearing loss primarily caused by exposure to loud noise. Fortunately, noise-induced hearing loss is preventable. You can protect your ear from loud noise by:
- Being aware of the noise levels in your environment. Avoid noise that exceeds 85 decibels.
- Wear protective devices, like earplugs, if you anticipate exposure to loud noise.
- Move away from loud noise if you can’t protect your ears.
Turning down the volume of car stereos, personal electronic devices, and TVs is also beneficial.
3. Stop Smoking
If you’ve been looking for a convincing reason to stop smoking, consider the effects of smoking on your hearing and general health. Research by the University of Manchester found that smokers are 28% more likely to become hearing impaired than non-smokers. The risks of developing hearing loss depend on the number of cigarette packs smoked and the length of time.
Smoking leads to nicotine and carbon monoxide exposure, which constrict blood vessels. This starves your inner ear and other sensitive body organs of oxygen. Nicotine also impairs auditory nerve neurotransmitters.
4. Exercise
Physical activity is important for your overall health and well-being.It isn’t surprising that exercise can improve your hearing health. Professionals suggest that exercises can increase blood supply to the ear. A sufficient blood supply maintains the health of tiny hair cells in the inner ear tasked with translating sound from the external environment into electrical impulses for interpretation in the brain. Unfortunately, hair cells don’t regenerate. A restricted blood supply leads to death or permanent damage.
Endnote
Most people overlook the importance of checking their ear health. Hearing ability affects overall wellness, and you should do everything possible to maintain your hearing ability. Apart from these tips, you should see an audiologist regularly.
