Noise is a ever-present presence in our daily lives. Our environment—from commute sounds and lawnmowers to music via earbuds—is increasingly loud. Such loud conditions can negatively impact your hearing if you fail to be cautious. October is National Protect Your Hearing Month, making it the perfect time to emphasize how to protect this essential sense.
How to shield your hearing: 8 key methods
Fortunately, there are straightforward steps you can take to guard your hearing from the everyday noise around you. The following are eight core recommendations for maintaining your hearing health.
1. Grasp volume levels and their impact
To begin curbing hearing loss, you must know when noise intensity is dangerously high. Different sounds produce varying decibel (dB) levels, and long-term exposure can lead to permanent hearing loss. A fast summary is below:
- 85–90 dB: Lawn mowers, heavy traffic – Safe for up to 2 hours of exposure.
- 100 dB: Motorcycles, construction machinery – Hearing damage can occur in as little as 15 minutes.
- Over 110 dB: Fireworks, gunshots, explosions – Instant damage can happen after just a few seconds.
A forward-thinking mindset regarding noise levels allows you to prevent environments that are unsafe for your hearing.
2. Check sound levels yourself
Are you interested in discovering the true loudness of your environment? You can easily gauge it using your smartphone. You can download various complimentary sound meter applications to monitor the noise in your vicinity. To get accurate results, measure from the distance you usually are from the sound source.
Using this feature regularly can help you better interpret your environment and make educated decisions about protecting your hearing.
3. Keep the volume down on your devices
A major way people negatively affect their hearing over time is by using their devices at elevated volume settings. Despite their handiness, headphones and earbuds often mask certain risks. For example, many headphones can surpass 100 dB, resulting in hearing loss in just 15 minutes.
Current data suggests that more than a billion young individuals face the threat of hearing impairment due to loud earbud use. You should never set the volume on your earbuds higher than 50% of the maximum capacity if you want to preserve your ears. If you find yourself turning the volume up just to be able to hear, it likely means some degree of hearing loss has already occurred.
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. It is in fact harmful to increase the volume excessively just to override external noise. Instead, consider using noise-canceling headphones, which allow you to enjoy your music or podcasts at a much lower, less hazardous volume. If you don’t have noise-canceling headphones, earplugs can be an effective alternative.
5. Always utilize earplugs in noisy settings
Whether you are at a concert, a sports event, or operating loud machinery, earplugs are critical for those routinely exposed to loud environments. They are a highly effective yet simple hearing protection strategy, being compact, inexpensive, and portable.
Individuals who use earplugs often can obtain custom-fitted ones, which give superior protection and comfort compared to standard types. Never fail to use earplugs when you are in a noisy location.
6. Follow safety guidelines at work
If your job involves being around loud equipment or machinery, always follow safety protocols regarding hearing protection. While some employers may disregard the danger, those who insist “it’s not that loud” might already have serious hearing damage and be unaware of the actual volume. Take necessary steps to protect yourself by complying with all guidelines and wearing the designated 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. By increasing distance, the sound intensity reaching your ears is lessened, which works to reduce damage. To illustrate, moving 20 feet back from a 110 dB sound source can lower the level to about 100 dB, which is safe for 15 minutes of exposure.
The example of fireworks demonstrates this well. While a firework explosion registers at 150 dB, if you are close to where it launches, the sound can still surpass 120 dB, which can cause instant harm. You can still enjoy the display at a safer level, below 100 dB, by being 2,000 feet away (the length of about five football fields).
8. Existing hearing loss needs to be addressed promptly
It’s extremely important to take steps as soon as possible if you have any hearing loss to prevent further decline. Auditory impairment is not self-reversing; it will progress. Nearly 1 in 10 adults between the ages of 55 and 64 has noticeable hearing loss, and those numbers increase dramatically in older age.
When initial signs of hearing loss are disregarded, it only causes the impairment to progress faster. It is common for people to wait an average of 7 years longer than they should before seeking a consultation. By consulting a hearing specialist without delay and investigating treatments such as hearing aids, you maximize the potential for maintaining your existing hearing.
Take action today
Use National Protect Your Hearing Month as the ideal reminder to make hearing health a main concern. These easy-to-follow actions can have a major impact, regardless of whether you’re seeking to avert future harm or you’ve already experienced some hearing loss.
Schedule a hearing test today and take charge of your hearing health before it’s too late.
