Unusual Ways To Keep Your Hearing Healthy

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Over the average day our hearing is exposed to many factors that have the very real potential to cause damage. These include listening to music too loudly while driving, being exposed to constant noise above 85 decibels at work and turning up the volume too much on our iPod.


Other activities including going to concerts or clubs, while even going to firework displays can also lead to long term hearing impairment if we don’t take care to protect our ears.

Wearing ear plugs or other ear protection is an obvious way to keep our hearing healthy in the face of these dangers but here are five more unusual suggestions which can also help:

Take a time out
If you go to a noisy club or concert it’s important to give your ears a rest. A good way to do this is to spend five minutes in every hour away from the noise. Similarly, after a night listening to loud music it has been recommended that you give your ears at least 16 hours to recover before exposing them to any more loud noise.

Follow the 60/60 rule
The widespread use of iPods and MP3 players that are listened to via headphones has led to real concerns about the damage that this could be doing to a generation’s hearing. As a safe guideline experts have devised the 60/60 rule. This recommends that you should only ever listen to your device’s maximum volume at 60% and at no more than 60 minutes each day.

Get some exercise
Like every part of our bodies, our ears rely on having a good blood supply to operate most effectively. You can help to improve your circulation by taking regular exercise that really gets the heart pumping like running, swimming or playing football or squash.

Eat some fish
Research suggests that the food you eat can affect your hearing. For example, adults who eat fish twice a week have been found to have a 42% lower chance of suffering from age-related hearing loss than those who do not consume fish. The theory is that Omega 3 fats in some fish make the blood vessels in our ears stronger and more resistant to damage.

Get it checked
Having regular checks can identify any hearing problems at an early stage and you will also receive expert advice on any possible solutions. If it turns out that you do need a hearing aid you will also be able to choose the most appropriate and discreet style to provide a solution from sites such as HH.

Of course, the key to recognising when your hearing might be at risk is being able to identify a sound level that could cause damage.

The maximum safe level is reckoned to be about 85 decibels. To give an idea of what this means, normal conversation is about 60 decibels. So remember, if you’re having to raise your voice to make yourself heard the background noise is probably too loud!

 

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