How To Prevent Hearing Loss

How to Prevent Hearing Loss?

The ears are delicate sensory organs and are highly susceptible to damage. One of the most common and preventable causes of hearing loss is noise exposure. Have you ever had ringing in your ears after listening to music or being in a noisy environment? This is a sign that your ears are being damaged.

Damage done to the ears from prolonged exposure to noise is almost always irreversible, so it is important that you protect your hearing now to minimise any hearing loss in the future.

Modern technology is fantastic. It makes our lives easier and keeps us connected to friends and family. Most modern technology is not ear-friendly though. Earphones feed sound directly into our ears at higher volumes and for longer periods than our ears can cope with. The closer the sound is to our eardrum, the easier it is for damage to occur. It is not just the volume of sound we need to be careful of either. Noise exposure is a measure of how much sound you have been exposed to over a 24 hour period. Earphones can be particularly damaging as they feed a constant level of noise into your ears, not giving the ear a chance to recover.

Simple Steps You Can Take to Prevent Hearing Loss

Turn the volume down on your devices to a comfortable, low level.
Use headphones instead of earphones. Headphones sit over your ears, rather than in your ears, increasing the distance from the source of the sound to your eardrum.
Use speakers or a speakerphone when possible to increase the distance from the source of the sound to your eardrum.
Use noise cancelling headphones. These block out background noise, meaning you can play sounds at a lower volume.
Take breaks from listening to music or videos throughout the day and give your ears a chance to recover.

If you know you are going to be in noisy or loud environments regularly you should also invest in some earplugs to protect your ears. This is especially important if you work in a noisy environment.

Custom Earplugs

Hearing and Audiology, in Perth and Geraldton, can make custom earplugs for you to suit a range of different environments.

If you are a musician or a music fan then you should invest in some musician’s earplugs. These are specially designed to let voices and sounds in, just at less harmful levels. They reduce the volume at which sound enters the ear but maintain sound’s fidelity by making reductions proportionally across frequencies, giving you a harmonically consistent experience. Musician’s earplugs can also be used in any situation where you want to reduce noise exposure but still need to be able to communicate.

If you are exposed to loud sounds or noisy environments and do not need to be able to communicate, we also make noise plugs. Noise plugs block as much sound as possible from entering the ear, protecting your hearing. They are ideal for people who work in noisy environments or use power tools, like construction workers or shooters.

For more information on custom earplugs see our custom earplugs page.

What Else Can You do to Prevent Hearing Loss?

If you are worried about your ears, Hearing and Audiology can assess your hearing and discuss your hearing habits with you to determine where you might be putting your hearing at risk. We’re all for modern technology, especially technology that helps you communicate with the people around you. We just want to help you continue to hear music and communicate for years to come.

Book an appointment online to check the health of your hearing, or call (08) 9388 8003. We have hearing clinics in Subiaco, Duncraig, Manning and Geraldton.

How To Prevent Hearing Loss