New Year’s Day is always a good time to consider resolutions and positive changes you would like to make in the coming new year. These resolutions often relate to making healthy lifestyle choices and breaking bad habits. One important aspect of overall well-being is your ear health. Consider these tips and strategies when entering 2016, and throughout the entire year, to benefit your hearing.
What to do
Eating healthy not only helps your brain, weight and overall body functions, it also aids your ears! Specifically, the nutrients and vitamins found in healthy foods help maintain your hearing and protect against potential hearing loss.
Reduce the stress of hearing loss by taking advantage of assistive devices that promote hearing and communication. CapTel captioned telephones, for example, have a large screen that shows captions of what callers are saying. If you can’t quite hear what they say, just read the captions. It takes the stress out of worrying about hearing the other person and lets you focus on the conversation seamlessly.
What you wear, particularly in the winter and cold temperatures, also plays a role in hearing health. Protect your ears with earmuffs or hats in chilly and blustery conditions because high-speed winds can potentially damage your eardrums and affect your hearing.
What to avoid
While there are certain things that you should proactively do to help promote healthy hearing, there are also elements and substances that you should stay away from.
For example, cigarettes are detrimental to your ear health. The toxic smoke they emit can negatively affect your middle ear in addition to your inner ear. Within your inner ear are fine hairs that transmit sound vibrations. Smoke damages these hairs which, in turn, decreases the quality of your hearing. Smoking also reduces the amount of oxygen surrounding you, cutting off vital air that helps your ears function.
Refrain from using loud tools and machines, and stay away from loud venues. It is recommended that people avoid anything that emits a noise level above 85 decibels. Always have earplugs or noise-canceling earmuffs nearby if you have to be around loud noises.
Just as you make appointments to see your primary care physician for checkups, it is important to visit your audiologist regularly. These professionals are able to test and monitor your hearing, recommend hearing solutions and much more. It is all part of a healthy hearing year!
