People often take their hearing for granted until it is already damaged. Taking preventative measures to protect your hearing can keep your ears healthy and in excellent working condition for a long time.
We are constantly surrounded by noisy environments which we cannot always avoid. In such cases, you can choose to invest in a pair of earplugs that can help protect the ears from the noises in your environment. If possible, take a break from loud environments to enable your ears to obtain some rest and allow them to recharge.
Loud music is one of the main culprits that leads to hearing loss. You can adjust the volume on your personal audio device when listening to music through headphones. One way to check whether your music is too loud is by asking the person next to you whether they can hear your music despite using headphones. If they answer in the affirmative, it means that your music volume is too loud and needs to be turned down. If you are unable to hear what is being said next to you when listening to music, this is also an indication that your music volume is much too loud.
To keep your ears healthy, the best way to prevent damage from loud music is to employ the 60-60 rule. This means that you should set your audio volume to a maximum of 60% on your personal audio device, while limiting your listening time to 60 minutes at a stretch.
Even though the latest trend is that of using earbuds while listening to personal audio devices, they are more detrimental to your hearing health than traditional headphones since earbuds are directly inserted into your ears and thus send amplified amounts of sound directly to your eardrums. You can use noise-cancelling headphones instead of earbuds to help drown out any background noise and help you listen to your music at a moderate volume.
Another simple way of maintaining your hearing health is by turning down the volume of your television and radio. A simple way to test whether your TV volume is too high is by trying to have a conversation with someone with your TV on. If you have trouble hearing the person over the TV or need to speak in louder tones to be heard, this means that the volume on your television is way too high and needs to be turned down.
Ensure that you wear appropriate auditory safety gear at your place of work to protect your hearing at loud work environments. Majority of workplaces are required to comply with the safety measure to protect their employees' hearing, and provide adequate safety gear for the same.
Protecting your ears is a far simpler process than rectifying your hearing loss once it occurs. Simple steps taken daily can help you keep your hearing at an optimal level for a very long time and save you the trouble and additional cost of obtaining hearing aids later in life.