New Year’s Resolutions: Habits to Fight Hearing Loss

It’s the beginning of a new year, and as such, a new you. Whether you use hearing aids, experience hearing loss, or hear perfectly, an excellent resolution is to protect your hearing. While age is a factor in developing hearing issues, noise-induced hearing loss affects people of all ages, including children. Factors can include toys, loud music through headphones or concerts, or noisy activities such as snowmobiling, shooting, or driving loud cars. These tips will help you with your resolution to maintain your hearing.

Prevention

While your hearing is still healthy, protect it whenever possible. If you don’t have hearing loss, you may have difficulty understanding the impact that it can have on your quality of life. It can lead to a lack of confidence, problems communicating, and issues with your safety when it comes to alarms and traffic.

Protect Your Ears

Everyday activities can put your hearing at risk without you even realizing. Some of these include mowing the lawn, watching fireworks, attending a stadium event, being near or on a construction site, or using power tools. If you aren’t sure about how loud is too loud, a simple way to gauge is with the “lawnmower test.” If what you’re hearing is as loud as or louder than a lawnmower, you should be wearing hearing protection.

Give Up Smoking

Research has shown that smoking can lead to an increased risk of hearing loss. As smoking constricts your blood vessels, it can prevent your body from being able to bring the necessary oxygen and nutrients to damaged areas, including the cells in your ear. This can lead to permanent hearing damage.

Know the Signs

If you are aware of the signs of hearing loss, you can identify them easier and be more likely to see a specialist when they arise. Some common signs include:

• Having difficulty following conversations
• Misunderstanding what others say
• Asking people to repeat themselves
• Needing the volume to be higher than is comfortable for others
• Ringing in the ears. Many young people will experience this after concerts or using power tools.

Improve Your Hearing

By visiting a hearing professional, you can have your hearing checked and determine what type of hearing loss you have and how severe it is. They can also help you find the right hearing aid for you.

The hearing professionals at Bravo Hearing Centre in Etobicoke are passionate about your hearing health. We strive to provide the best advice and recommendations for each of our patients and are committed to providing services and support based on the needs of each individual.

We are pleased to be able to offer a wide variety of hearing protection options for our patients. These include:

• Noise plugs – Suited for use on industrial sites and when using power tools.
• Musician’s earplugs – Used when attending concerts, loud events such as sports games, or playing instruments.
• Swim plugs – Used by swimmers and those who engage in water activities to protect the ears from painful conditions such as swimmer’s ear and ear infections.

For more information on the services and solutions provided by the specialists at Bravo Hearing Centre, please see our hearing services page or contact us at 647-694-4626.