Over the ear headphones are better for preventing noise-induced hearing loss than ear-buds. Ear-buds sit closer to the ear drum, causing more damage.
Hearing loss is something that no one wants to experience, but unfortunately, a lot of us eventually do. There are some inevitable causes related to genetics and health conditions, but noise induced hearing loss is preventable. It is a beautiful thing to be able to hear the birds chirping every morning or even what the person next to you is saying. It is something that is often taken for granted until it’s too late. You want to keep yourself healthy for as long as possible and that includes being able to hear well for as long as possible. Here are three things you should know about noise-induced hearing loss.
Too Much Noise
Some of the more apparent causes of noise-induced hearing loss are things like loud speakers and playing sound too loud through your earbuds, but how are you supposed to know what is considered too loud? Noise is measured in decibels (dB). Anything that is less than 75-80 dB is said to be safe. To put this into perspective, this is around sixty percent volume on most listening devices. Normal conversation ranges from 50-65 dB, while things like city noise is around 80, all deemed safe. It starts to get too loud when you hear things like lawnmowers, concerts, and fireworks. There is a safe time frame for noises with higher decibels. For example, a lawnmower, which is around 85 dB, won’t impair your hearing until about eight hours of listening to it. The higher the decibel, the lower the amount of time it takes to start to damage your hearing.
Don’t Ignore The Signs
There are some key signs that you may have been impacted by noise-induced hearing loss. Here are some of the main signs to look out for:
1. Muffled or distorted sounds
2. You must turn the volume up louder than normal to hear
3. You can’t hear speech from further than 3 feet away
Prevention
There are a lot of ways to ensure that you do not suffer from noise-induced hearing loss. A lot of those have to do with simply controlling the volume levels on your personal listening devices. When you’re listening to music, do not exceed sixty percent volume and don’t listen for more than sixty minutes at a time. Also, it is smart to choose over the ear headphones versus ear buds since ear buds sit a lot closer to the ear drum. If you know that you are about to go somewhere with a high noise level, consider wearing earplugs. They can reduce noise by 20-30 decibels and will still allow you to hear whatever is going on.
Experiencing Hearing Loss? Bay Area Audiology Is Here To Help
Ready to do something about your hearing loss? Our Doctor of Audiology, Dr. Trisha A. Bents Muth, is exceptionally experienced in the art of audiology, and provides the absolute best solutions. Bay Area Audiology has been working to give patients a comfortable environment, with thorough evaluations. We are independently owned, and unbiased when it comes to finding you the care you need.
You can always come into the office, or contact us in advance to set up an appointment. We also provide updates on our social media websites. You can check out our Facebook,Twitter,
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Don’t hesitate–we can help.