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Hearing loss can be a normal part of aging. But there are a few changes you can make to protect your hearing health and even prevent hearing loss. Make healthy changes to your lifestyle and combine these tips with regular hearing tests to keep tabs on your hearing health.
Manage Your Blood Pressure
High blood pressure and heart disease affect your overall health as well as your ears. The delicate cells in the inner ear are easily damaged by changes in blood pressure and blood oxygen levels. When these cells are damaged, you’ll experience hearing loss. So managing your blood pressure and improving your cardiovascular health can lower your risk of hearing loss.
Manage Diabetes
Just like high blood pressure, diabetes can harm your hearing. If you have diabetes, you have a much higher risk of developing hearing loss due to damage to the ears. Monitor your blood sugar levels and always follow your doctor’s advice for managing diabetes.
Quit Smoking
You already know that smoking is bad for your health. Smoking can increase your risk of cancer or other health issues. Smoking can also affect your hearing health and increase your risk of hearing loss. Even second-hand smoke is linked to hearing loss, so make sure you don’t smoke around loved ones.
Drink Alcohol in Moderation
Alcohol can also impact your ears. Drinking heavily is hard on your body and hard on your ears. If you drink alcohol, drink in moderation to reduce your risk of hearing loss.
Get Regular Exercise
Exercising can improve your cardiovascular health, improve your blood circulation, and keep the cells in your ear happy and healthy. Get moving for a few minutes every day to enjoy all the benefits of being more active.
Eat Veggies and Fruits
It goes without saying that eating vegetables and fruits is important for a lot of reasons. When it comes to your ears, eating a diet high in vitamins and minerals is good for your hearing. These nutrients can protect your ears from damage and lower your risk of hearing loss.
Ask Your Doctor About Your Medications
Some medications may damage your hearing. These ototoxic drugs include some over-the-counter medications like aspirin as well as some antibiotics or chemotherapy medications. You can ask your doctor to check your medications for any hearing-related side effects and let them know immediately if you notice changes in your hearing health. They may be able to recommend a different medication that’s safer for your ears.
Wear Hearing Protection
Another great way to protect your hearing is by wearing hearing protection! If you’re in a place with a lot of loud noise, consider putting in a pair of earplugs. These will reduce the volume of sounds reaching your ears to keep your hearing safe. You should also wear earplugs when you mow the lawn, attend a concert, or do any other noisy activities.
Wondering how loud is too loud? Try talking to the person next to you. If you have to raise your voice just to be heard, it’s too loud. In fact, you should be able to talk to someone standing 3 feet away without shouting. Otherwise, it’s too loud and you need to put in a pair of earplugs.
Book a Hearing Test
Another way to protect your hearing is to book a hearing test. Monitoring your hearing health with regular hearing tests will help you recognize the first signs of hearing loss.
It can be hard to recognize the signs of hearing loss. When your hearing starts to change, it’s usually quite a gradual process. You may not notice for several months that you aren’t hearing certain sounds. And even when you do realize that some sounds are missing, your ears and brain have adjusted to not hearing that sound, so you may think you don’t need to treat your hearing loss.
Use Hearing Aids
If you have hearing loss, even mild hearing loss, the best thing you can do for your hearing health is to use hearing aids! The sooner you treat hearing loss the easier it will be to adjust to your devices and get the most benefit. Contact us today to find out more about your hearing needs and discover what other healthy habits you can start today that will protect your hearing.