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Hearing Safety Tips

Hearing is an integral part of your sensory experience, yet people continue to damage their hearing through noisy environments and activities. According to the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, protecting your hearing consistently and appropriately is the best prevention against premature hearing loss.

  1. Wear Protection

    • Avoiding noise isn't always possible, but noise can damage your hearing without being explosively loud. Sound waves enter your ears, stimulating small hairs inside your ear canal, frequent exposure to loud sounds weakens the hairs. Wear protective head phones if you're within 25 feet of a carpentry site or landscaping machinery. According to the National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety, the average 25-year-old carpenter has the hearing capability of a 50 year-old non-carpenter because due to exposure to the sounds of machinery and banging.

    Limit Optional Noise

    • When you exit a rock concert, everything sounds quiet until your ears properly readjust. If you've spent more than eight hours of your life in a rock concert without ear protection, you've already permanently damaged your hearing, reports the American Academy of Family Physicians. The same level of damage is possible after eight hours of exposure to a chain saw or a few minutes of close-range fireworks. Wear small, protective ear buds, available at most major grocery and drug stores, before attending an ultra loud event. You'll still be able to hear the event without deafening results afterward.

    Turn Down the Volume

    • Surround sound might enhance your immediate media experience but it's ultimately no safer than hanging around an electric chain saw for a few hours. Prevent permanent hearing damage by keeping your media volume at conversational levels. When wearing head phones or ear buds, ask the person next to you if he can hear the music; if he can, it's too loud. You might be able to feel the volume in your chest but you can't feel the simultaneous deterioration of your ear cilia causing hearing loss.

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