We are surrounded by noise in our everyday existence. From lawnmowers and traffic to personal audio devices, the world is louder than ever. Such loud conditions can compromise your hearing if you fail to be cautious. With National Protect Your Hearing Month taking place in October, now is the best time to consider keeping safe your hearing.
How to shield your hearing: 8 key methods
Fortunately, there are simple steps you can take to protect your ears from the everyday noise around you. The following are eight major recommendations for protecting your hearing health.
1. Become familiar with noise levels and their affect
To begin preventing hearing loss, you must develop an awareness of when noise intensity is too loud to tolerate. Diverse noises generate different decibel (dB) measurements; spending too much time around loud ones can result in unrecoverable hearing damage. A fast summary is below:
- 85–90 dB: Lawn mowers, heavy traffic – Safe for up to 2 hours of exposure.
- 100 dB: Motorcycles, construction machinery – Hearing damage can occur in as little as 15 minutes.
- Instant damage is possible after merely a few seconds of exposure to noises over 110 dB, like explosions, gunshots, or fireworks.
Taking a preventative approach to noise awareness can help you steer clear of environments that are dangerous to your ears.
2. Check sound levels yourself
Curious about how loud your environment really is? A smartphone makes checking sound levels effortless. Several free sound meter apps are available, allowing you to check noise levels around you. The key to getting reliable data is to take the measurement from the distance you usually maintain from the origin of the sound.
Using this tool regularly can help you better grasp your environment and make informed decisions about protecting your hearing.
3. Don’t crank up the volume on your devices
A significant way people harm their hearing over time is by using their devices at loud volume settings. Despite their handiness, headphones and earbuds often mask certain risks. Many headphones, for instance, are capable of reaching volumes over 100 dB, which means hearing loss can occur in as little as 15 minutes.
Because they listen with earbuds at high volumes, more than a billion young people worldwide are currently facing a risk of hearing loss. To protect your ears, never turn your earbuds above 50% of their maximum volume. If you find yourself turning the volume up just to be able to hear, it likely means some degree of hearing loss has already occurred.
4. Avoid using music to drown out background noise
When working in a noisy environment or residing in a loud neighborhood, you may be tempted to use headphones to mask the surrounding noise. However, turning the volume high enough to overpower the noise outside is dangerous for your hearing. The preferred solution is noise-canceling headphones, which permit listening to media at a greatly reduced and safer volume. If you don’t have noise-canceling headphones, earplugs can be an effective alternative.
5. When in noisy environments, use earplugs
For anyone often in loud environments—whether at concerts, sporting events, or while operating heavy machinery—earplugs are a must. Since they are small, affordable, and easy to transport, earplugs offer an easy but powerful means of hearing protection.
Custom-fitted earplugs are offered for those who need them regularly, providing better comfort and protection than generic options. You should certainly use them in any settings that are loud.
6. Adhere to safety recomendations at work
When your work involves being near loud machinery or equipment, you must strictly follow all safety procedures for hearing protection. While some employers may disregard the danger, those who insist “it’s not that loud” might already have noticeable hearing damage and be unaware of the actual volume. Take necessary steps to protect yourself by observing all guidelines and wearing the designated protective equipment.
7. Distance yourself from loud noise
Sometimes the best way to protect your ears is simply to move away from the noise source. The benefit of distance is that it decreases the sound’s intensity before it reaches your ears, thus serving to minimize the risk of harm. For example, standing 20 feet away from a noise source producing 110 dB reduces it to around 100 dB—safe for up to 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. In contrast, by seating yourself 2,000 feet away (approximately five football fields), you can view the show at a safer level, under 100 dB.
8. Address existing hearing loss promptly
Any existing hearing loss requires prompt action to keep it from advancing. This kind of impairment will not resolve itself; it only advances. Nearly 1 in 10 adults between the ages of 55 and 64 has significant hearing loss, and those numbers rise sharply in older age.
When initial signs of hearing loss are disregarded, it only causes the condition to progress faster. On average, people wait 7 years too long to get treatment. The sooner you consult with a hearing specialist and explore hearing aids or other treatments, the better your chances of saving your remaining hearing.
Act now for better hearing
The observance of National Protect Your Hearing Month serves as an opportune time to place a high value on your auditory well-being. Whether you’ve already experienced some hearing loss or want to avoid future damage, these straightforward steps can make a big difference.
Schedule a hearing test today and take control of your hearing health before it’s too late.
