World Hearing Day is on the 3rd of March this year and it’s the perfect time to make some life choices that may just save your hearing in the future.
The theme this year is “To hear for life, listen with care” and it focuses on the prevention of hearing loss through safe listening.
Safe listening means protecting your ears from harmful sounds.
Besides having your hearing tested regularly at your nearest Hearing Works store, you can follow these tips to ensure that you always take care of your hearing health.
One of the biggest culprits of noise-induced hearing loss is exposure to loud music.
The simplest solution is to limit the amount of time you’re exposed to it and balance this with periods of quiet time instead.
It is not so much how loud a sound is, but how forcefully the sound waves enter your ear. The measurement used to determine this is called decibels (dB).
The lower the decibels, the less chance there will be damage. Normal conversation is usually measured around 60 decibels. Loud thumping music, motorcycles, etc, can reach well above 85 decibels which over time will damage your hearing.
The WHO recommends keeping your average daily exposure to noise below 70dB to prevent the risk of noise-related hearing loss.
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- Wearing soft foam earplugs greatly reduces the decibels you are exposed to. Keep a pair handy.
- Limit headphone time. With our digital existence and Zoom meetings every hour, take at least a 20-minute ‘noise-break’ when you can.
- Avoid using your headphones/iPods at high volume for extended periods of time.
- Use ear protection plugs when using power tools or machinery such as drills and lawnmowers Limit your exposure to risky noise at sports events, live music shows, etc by using protective earplugs or opting for outdoor events and standing away from the speakers.
By doing regular cardiovascular exercise, high blood pressure and heart diseases → the two major causes of hearing damage, are kept at bay.
People with diabetes are twice as likely to suffer from hearing loss than those without, therefore, maintaining healthy blood sugar levels by keeping sugar and carbohydrate consumption low.
- Dark chocolate gives you that chocolate kick you love without the sugar
- Eating plenty of fresh fruits and low-sugar snacks is important to keep diabetes away.
- Walk for at least 20 minutes a day if you can’t make it to the gym.
- Avoid high caffeine supplements, as caffeine can reduce your ears’ ability to recover from temporary noise exposure.
Remember to always keep your ears dry, ditch the earbuds and get at least 8 hours of sleep.
Something you can do right now is to take our free online screening test.
For a more thorough investigation, book our ultra-affordable hearing test for only R90 today.
Make this World Hearing Day on the 3rd of March the start of healthy hearing habits and reap the benefits for years to come.
