January is almost here, and this means a whole new year. We often use this calendar event as an excuse to start something new for our health. Many of us commit to a dietary cleanse or invest in a health monitor to challenge how many steps we take in the new year. One aspect of health which often gets overlooked is an investment in your hearing health. Often people don’t think it’s a big deal when they struggle to hear or don’t even realize it’s an issue at all. However, unaddressed hearing loss can quickly surmount into social issues, isolation, and a sedentary lifestyle. Before you do anything else in 2022, make the resolution to explore your hearing health.
Be Prepared to Protect Your Hearing
The thing about hearing health is that once you lose hearing, it’s most often permanent. Unexpected very loud exposures or constant exposures over years can equal hearing issues that last a lifetime. This year, monitor the hearing environments in the places you frequent most. This doesn’t just include your place of work but your commute, your hobbies, and your home life. A free app available on most smartphones and smart devices can identify the decibel level in the spaces you frequent most.
Sound is measured in decibels and any exposure over 85dB is considered loud enough to damage your hearing. It’s important to remember that it is not just the level of exposure but the length. An exposure of 85dB can damage hearing only after 8 hours of constant exposure, but as the decibels rise the time it takes for damage to incur quickly diminishes. An Exposure of 88 decibels causes hearing loss only after 4 hours. A decibel level of 100dB can cause damage in just 15 minuets. This is alarming because many personal listening devices easily can surpass 100dB and are listened to for hours on end.
Turn Down The Level on Your Headphones
One resolution you can make for the new year’s is to limit the sound on your personal listening devices to 60% of the total volume and take listening breaks every half hour. This can give your ears a chance to rest and recover. It is also important to be prepared with hearing protection in 2022 for any place in your life where the decibel level threatens your hearing. This could be at work, on the street, in your car or your home.
Eating Healthier
Another important resolution you can make to protect your hearing is to pay attention to your diet. This is a great one because while it affects your hearing health, your total health can benefit. Benefits of eating healthy include healthier skin, teeth, and eyes, stronger muscles and tissue, a boosted immunity, a lower risk of heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension, and of course better hearing.
A recent study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) collected information based on questionnaire responses from roughly 71,000 women and found that those who consumed an overall healthy diet had a lower risk of hearing loss. This may be in part because a healthy diet improves heart health and blood pressure which in turn supports the cells throughout your entire body, including your ears.
These cells of the inner ear are important in sending audio information from your ears to your brain and when they are hindered due to poor dietary choices, they can sustain damage. What is a healthy diet for hearing in 2022? A diet rich in vegetables, whole grains, fruits, and lean proteins will provide the nutrients your ears rely on for a healthy diet.
Keep Up With Your Hearing Health
By the time you reach 65 the chances you have a hearing loss are 1 in 3. If you are nearing this age, make it a resolution to check your hearing this year. However, you don’t need to be this age or older to check your hearing annually. People of any age are at risk for hearing loss. If you notice you struggle to hear the people around you, if you find that you need to turn up the TV louder than others to hear or you just want to stay on top of your hearing health, schedule a hearing appointment as soon as possible.