We are surrounded by noise in our everyday existence. Whether it’s lawnmowers, vehicles, or our own headphones, the aural world has intensified. The growing volume of sound poses a significant risk to your auditory health unless you take measures. As October marks National Protect Your Hearing Month, it serves as an opportune period to review how to safeguard this critical sense.
8 key suggestions to protect your hearing
Luckily, a few simple measures exist that allow you to insulate your hearing from routine environmental sounds. The following are eight core recommendations for protecting your hearing health.
1. Become familiar with volume levels and their affect
The initial action for staving off auditory damage is to determine when a sound level becomes hazardous. Different sounds produce varying decibel (dB) levels, and long-term exposure can lead to permanent hearing loss. A fast look is below:
- 85–90 dB: Lawn mowers, heavy traffic – Safe for up to 2 hours of exposure.
- Exposure to 100 dB sounds, such as those from construction equipment or motorcycles, risks hearing damage in only 15 minutes.
- Instant damage is possible after merely a few seconds of exposure to noises over 110 dB, like explosions, gunshots, or fireworks.
By being vigilant about how loud your surroundings are, you can successfully stay away from places that are harmful to your auditory health.
2. Determine sound levels yourself
Curious about how loud your environment really is? Your smartphone offers an easy way to measure it. There are many free applications that act as sound meters, enabling you to assess surrounding noise levels. For the most accurate results, ensure you measure the sound from your usual distance to the source.
Regular use of this monitoring tool can improve your understanding of your surroundings, leading to smarter choices about hearing protection.
3. Keep the volume down on your devices
Regularly playing music or podcasts too loudly is a leading contributor to cumulative hearing damage. The ease of headphones and earbuds often comes with unseen risks. It’s important that numerous headphones can reach 100 dB, a level that can induce hearing loss in only 15 minutes of use.
Today, over a billion young people are at risk of hearing loss from using earbuds at high volumes. To protect your ears, never turn your earbuds above 50% of their maximum volume. Having to increase the volume past this point to hear suggests that you may already have some hearing damage.
4. Avoid using music to drown out background noise
For those who live in loud areas or work in noisy settings, the urge to use headphones to overpower the ambient sound can be strong. But cranking up the volume to overpower outside noise is harmful. Opt instead for noise-canceling headphones; these devices make it possible to listen to your music or podcasts at a considerably reduced, safer level. Should noise-canceling headphones not be an option, simple earplugs are a viable alternative.
5. When in noisy settings, use earplugs
For anyone often in loud environments—whether at concerts, sporting events, or while operating heavy machinery—earplugs are a must. They are a highly effective yet simple hearing protection strategy, being compact, inexpensive, and portable.
Custom-fitted earplugs are available for those who need them regularly, providing better comfort and protection than generic options. You should certainly use them in all environments that are loud.
6. While at work, follow safety guidelines
critically, if your occupation exposes you to loud machinery or equipment, you must ensure you follow the established safety guidelines for auditory protection. While some employers may underestimate the danger, those who insist “it’s not that loud” might already have noticeable hearing damage and be unaware of the actual volume. Protect yourself by following guidelines and wearing suitable protective equipment.
7. Distance yourself from loud noise
The simplest means of hearing protection can often be just moving back from the source of the loud sound. Distance lowers the intensity of sound impacting your ears, thereby minimize 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.
Fireworks offer a good example. A firework exploding at 150 dB may seem far away, but if you’re near the launch site, the noise can still exceed 120 dB, causing instant damage. However, by seating yourself 2,000 feet away (approximately five football fields), you can experience the show at a safer level, under 100 dB.
8. Address existing hearing loss promptly
If you’ve already developed hearing loss, it’s vital to act before it worsens. Hearing loss doesn’t go away on its own; it progresses. Particularly, close to 10% of adults aged 55 to 64 suffer from substantial hearing loss, with the rates climbing steeply among older demographics.
Failing to address the first warning signs of auditory loss will only hasten its advancement. It is common for people to wait an average of 7 years longer than they should before getting professional help. By consulting a hearing specialist sooner and exploring treatments such as hearing aids, you significantly improve the potential for retaining your existing hearing.
Take action today
National Protect Your Hearing Month is an perfect reminder to prioritize your hearing health. Whether you’ve already experienced some hearing loss or want to prevent future damage, these straightforward steps can make a big difference.
Don’t delay—book a hearing test now and assume control over your hearing health before the opportunity is gone.
