Noise is a constant factor in our daily lives. Whether it’s lawnmowers, heavy traffic, or our own headphones, the aural world has intensified. The expanding volume of sound poses a significant risk to your auditory health unless precautions are taken. October is National Protect Your Hearing Month, making it the perfect time to focus on how to preserve this essential sense.
8 actionable steps to protect your hearing
Fortunately, there are straightforward steps you can take to protect your ears from the everyday noise around you. The following are eight major pointers for maintaining your hearing health.
1. Become familiar with noise levels and their affect
To begin preventing hearing loss, you must know when noise intensity is too loud to tolerate. Different sounds produce varying decibel (dB) levels, and long-term exposure can lead to permanent hearing loss. Consult this brief table:
- 85–90 dB: Lawn mowers, heavy traffic – Safe for up to 2 hours of exposure.
- 100 dB: Motorcycles, construction machinery – Hearing damage can occur in as little as 15 minutes.
- Over 110 dB: Fireworks, gunshots, explosions – Instant damage can happen after just a few seconds.
A forward-thinking mindset regarding noise levels allows you to keep away from environments that are detrimental for your hearing.
2. Determine sound levels yourself
Curious about how loud your environment really is? You can easily measure it using your smartphone. Several no-cost sound meter apps are accessible, allowing you to test noise levels around you. For the most accurate results, ensure you measure the sound from your typical distance to the source.
Using this feature regularly can help you better understand your environment and make informed decisions about protecting your hearing.
3. Keep the volume down on your devices
Regularly playing music or podcasts too loudly is a primary contributor to cumulative hearing damage. Headphones and earbuds, while convenient, frequently carry understated dangers. It’s important that many headphones can reach 100 dB, a level that can induce hearing loss in only 15 minutes of use.
Today, over a billion young people are at risk of hearing loss from using earbuds at high volumes. To protect your ears, never turn your earbuds above 50% of their maximum volume. If you find yourself turning the volume up just to be able to hear, it likely means some degree of hearing loss has already occurred.
4. Never try to use music to drown out loud noise
If you live in a noisy neighborhood or frequently work in loud environments, it might be tempting to use headphones to block out the background sound. It is actually harmful to increase the volume excessively just to override outside noise. The preferred solution is noise-canceling headphones, which permit listening to media at a much reduced and safer volume. If you don’t have noise-canceling headphones, earplugs can be an effective alternative.
5. Always utilize earplugs in loud environments
For anyone regularly attending loud environments—whether at concerts, sporting events, or while operating heavy machinery—earplugs are a must. Since they are small, affordable, and easy to transport, earplugs offer an uncomplicated but powerful means of hearing protection.
If you use them often, custom-fitted earplugs can be obtained, offering enhanced protection and a better fit than off-the-shelf versions. Never fail to use earplugs when you are in a noisy location.
6. While at work, follow safety guidelines
Crucially, if your occupation exposes you to loud machinery or equipment, you must obey the established safety guidelines for auditory protection. While some employers may underestimate the danger, those who insist “it’s not that loud” might already have serious hearing damage and be unaware of the actual volume. Take essential steps to protect yourself by complying with all guidelines and wearing the designated protective equipment.
7. Move further away from loud noise
Sometimes the best way to protect your ears is simply to increase the space from the noise source. Distance lowers the intensity of sound impacting your ears, thereby minimize damage. As an illustration, a noise source at 110 dB will be reduced to roughly 100 dB if you stand 20 feet away—a level that allows for up to 15 minutes of safe exposure.
The example of fireworks demonstrates this well. While a firework explosion registers at 150 dB, if you are close to where it launches, the sound can still surpass 120 dB, which can cause instant harm. In contrast, by seating yourself 2,000 feet away (approximately five football fields), you can view the show at a safer level, under 100 dB.
8. Existing hearing loss needs to be addressed promptly
It’s extremely important to seek help as soon as possible if you have any hearing loss to prevent further decline. This kind of impairment will not resolve itself; it only gets worse. Nearly 1 in 10 adults between the ages of 55 and 64 has noticeable hearing loss, and those numbers increase dramatically in older age.
When initial signs of hearing loss are ignored, it only causes the condition to progress faster. Typically, individuals delay seeking professional assistance by a full 7 years. Your ability to protect the hearing you still have is improved the earlier you see a hearing specialist to discuss options like hearing aids.
Start protecting your hearing now
The observance of National Protect Your Hearing Month serves as an great time to place a high value on your auditory well-being. These fundamental steps are useful and can make a big change, whether your goal is to reduce existing hearing loss or stop it from happening.
Schedule a hearing test today and take charge of your hearing health before it’s too late.