Hearing Health: How To Protect Your Ears

Hi! Welcome back to A Hint of Life 🙂 Today, I wanted to talk about a topic that’s not so cool but it’s necessary for our overall health… our ears! our hearing health!

Believe it or not, our ears are a precious part of our bodies. As we age, our hearing abilities are likely to decline and most of us are well aware of that. If you have a grandparent, you know what I mean. The issue is, unlike other parts of our bodies, our ears aren’t something we tend to think about often. Protecting your ears could mean you’re less likely to suffer hearing loss at a young age and ear damage that could lead to other illnesses. My grandma suffers from hearing loss so I want to make sure I take all the precautions to avoid this from happening to me. 

Here’s how we can protect our ears and have great hearing health: 

Ear Plugs

If you work in a job where you’re subjected to loud noises most of the day, like on a construction site or working shed, it’s a smart idea to use ear plugs. In fact, it’s probably a necessity for your health and safety rules. If you’re constantly in an environment with loud noises and you don’t take the necessary precautions to protect your ears, you could end up with irreparable ear damage. Ear plugs will allow you to still hear what’s going on around you but diminish the noise.

Don’t Blast Music

One of the main reasons that hearing gets poorer sooner than it should is because of simple everyday things. For instance, the volume on your television or the volume of your car radio. We’re all guilty of turning it up when our favorite song is playing, but when it comes to the protection of our ears it isn’t smart. Turn the volume down to where you can still hear it but your neighbors can’t. Ears are like any other part of the body – sometimes they need a little exercise.

I know I do this all the time. When I drive and turn on a podcast, I turn the volume reeally high! Bad. bad. bad. 

Give Your Ears a Break

If you’re surrounded by sound all day, every day, don’t come home to it too. Have an hour off and read a book instead. Your ears need time to recover when they’re around a lot of sound. Similarly, if you’ve picked up the Flu over the Winter, you may have experienced an ear infection with it. You’ll understand why you don’t want ear damage if you did. Give your ears some time to clear the damage by keeping noise to a minimum.

This is one of my new years resolutions. Read more, watch netflix less. I didn’t think I’d like reading so much but turns out it’s almost therapeutic; plus, it helps me sleep better. No more TV or loud noises before bed. Give it a try! 

Put Down the Swab

Once upon a time, cotton swabs were recommended as the best way to clear ears of wax or dry them after a shower. Now, ear specialists are begging the general public to stop using them. When used inappropriately, cotton swabs can cause all kinds of damage to the ear and some people have even got the swabs stuck inside. If you’re experiencing symptoms like itching and pain, similar to tinnitus which you can learn more about by googling the subject, it’s important to go to your doctor asap. 

Dry Ears

If you spend a lot of time in the water and don’t protect your ears, you could end up having swimmer’s ear. It’s a painful condition common for people who are in the water a lot. You can protect yourself by using head gear that keeps your ears dry while you’re swimming or surfing.

You may not think about your ears and hearing health all that much, but don’t fall into the trap of neglecting them. Being healthy is about the entire body, not just how we look on the outside. Remember that. 

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