Noise is a ubiquitous factor in our daily lives. Whether it’s lawnmowers, heavy traffic, or our own headphones, the aural world has intensified. The growing volume of sound poses a serious risk to your auditory health unless precautions are taken. As October marks National Protect Your Hearing Month, it serves as an ideal period to review how to safeguard this critical sense.
8 key suggestions to protect your hearing
It’s a relief that uncomplicated actions can be implemented to defend your ears from the ambient noise you encounter daily. The following are eight primary recommendations for maintaining your hearing health.
1. Grasp noise levels and their impact
To begin preventing hearing loss, you must know when noise intensity is too loud to tolerate. The volume of various sounds is measured in decibels (dB), and being exposed to them for too long can cause irreversible hearing impairment. Consult this brief table:
- Sounds like heavy traffic or lawn mowers (85–90 dB) can be tolerated safely for a maximum of 2 hours.
- 100 dB: Motorcycles, construction machinery – Hearing damage can occur in as little as 15 minutes.
- Noises exceeding 110 dB (e.g., explosions, fireworks) can lead to immediate damage in just seconds.
A forward-thinking mindset regarding noise levels enables you to prevent environments that are detrimental for your hearing.
2. Measure sound levels yourself
Are you interested in discovering the true loudness of your environment? You can easily determine it using your smartphone. There are many free applications that function as sound meters, enabling you to assess surrounding noise levels. For the most accurate results, ensure you measure the sound from your usual distance to the source.
Using this feature regularly can help you better grasp your environment and make informed decisions about protecting your hearing.
3. Keep the volume down on your devices
One of the most frequent causes of gradual hearing damage is enjoying music or podcasts at volumes that are too high. The convenience of headphones and earbuds often comes with hidden risks. For example, many headphones can surpass 100 dB, leading to hearing loss in just 15 minutes.
Today, over a billion young people are at risk of hearing loss from using earbuds at high volumes. To be safe, keep your earbud volume below 50% of its full potential to protect your hearing. The need to increase the volume past this point to hear indicates that you may already have some hearing damage.
4. Avoid using music to drown out background noise
When situated in a noisy environment or residing in a loud neighborhood, you may be tempted to use headphones to cancel the surrounding noise. But cranking up the volume to overpower outside noise is harmful. A better alternative is to use noise-canceling headphones, as they let you listen to music or podcasts at a significantly lower and safer volume. Should noise-canceling headphones not be an option, simple earplugs serve as a viable alternative.
5. When in noisy settings, use earplugs
Earplugs are absolutely necessary for individuals often in loud settings, such as concerts, sports events, or while using heavy machinery. They are small, affordable, and easy to carry, making them a simple but effective tool for hearing protection.
Custom-fitted earplugs are available for those who need them regularly, providing better comfort and protection than generic options. In any loud setting, don’t be reluctant to use them.
6. Adhere to safety recommendations at work
critically, if your occupation exposes you to loud machinery or equipment, you must obey the established safety guidelines for auditory protection. Be cautious because some jobs may discount the risks; individuals claiming “it’s not that loud” could be suffering from substantial hearing loss and thus misjudging the true noise level. Protect yourself by following guidelines and wearing suitable protective equipment.
7. Move further away from loud noise
The simplest means of hearing protection can often be just moving back from the source of the loud sound. The advantage of distance is that it decreases the sound’s intensity before it reaches your ears, thus helping to minimize the risk of harm. As an illustration, a noise source at 110 dB will be reduced to roughly 100 dB if you stand 20 feet away—a level that allows for up to 15 minutes of safe exposure.
The example of fireworks demonstrates this well. Even if a 150 dB firework explosion appears distant, being close to the launch site means the noise could still be over 120 dB, leading to immediate damage. By sitting 2,000 feet away (roughly five football fields), you can enjoy the show at a safer level below 100 dB.
8. Address existing hearing loss promptly
If you’ve already noticed hearing loss, it’s critical to act before it worsens. Auditory impairment is not self-reversing; it will continue to worsen. Specifically, close to 10% of adults aged 55 to 64 suffer from substantial hearing loss, with the rates climbing steeply among older demographics.
Failing to address the first warning signs of auditory loss will only quicken its advancement. On average, people wait 7 years too long to consult a specialist. Your ability to conserve the hearing you still have is greatly enhanced the earlier you see a hearing specialist to review options like hearing aids.
Act now for better hearing
The observance of National Protect Your Hearing Month is an great time to place a high value on your auditory well-being. These easy-to-follow actions can have a major impact, regardless of whether you’re seeking to avert future harm or you’ve already suffered some hearing loss.
Schedule a hearing test today and take control of your hearing health before it’s too late.