Protecting Against Extreme Noise

2020-09-22 Are you worried about harming your hearing? Many people don’t realize that our hearing is incredibly sensitive to the environment around us. It’s easier than most people think to impair our ears and begin to experience hearing loss. It’s also not true to say that hearing loss is confined to an age group or time in your life. It can happen at any time and it is becoming more prevalent in the younger demographics. Why is this?

Well, this is likely since people are not taking the necessary precautions and protecting their hearing as well as their ears. Any sound over 80 decibels has the potential to permanently harm your hearing. This is going to be more likely if you are regularly exposed to the sound or if you are exposed to the sound for a long time. Louder noises are also far more likely to harm your hearing. 

Sounds that fall into this category include the noise of a train passing close by, a jet engine, a road drill and a music concert. As such, in your personal and professional life, you could regularly be exposed to noises like this. So, how can you protect your hearing?

Careful with devices
You need to make sure that you are using devices in your personal life the right way. The classic example would be a portable listening device. This is particularly dangerous as it will blast sound directly into your ear. You may not be aware that most devices do allow you to set the volume at a safe volume and will even tell you what this is. This won’t usually be set automatically but you can take this step yourself. This means that you won’t be able to turn up the device over a fixed volume when your favorite song starts to play. It can certainly help protect your ears. 

Of course, it’s not just personal devices. Even listening to the car radio can be dangerous. You must make sure that you are not constantly turning up the volume on your drive to work or morning commute. Eventually, this will be loud enough to impair your hearing. 

You should also try and avoid environments with loud noises where possible. Imax theaters proudly boast that they can replicate the noise of a jet engine taking off. The reason for this is that the sound levels are often high. At the very least you should limit how often you are visiting a business like this. Of course, sometimes sounds like this are unavoidable. That’s when you need protective devices for your hearing. 

Hearing protection 
There are a few different options when it comes to protecting your hearing from loud noises. For instance, you can consider selecting earmuffs. The benefit of earmuffs is that they will completely cover your ear. They provide a layer of foam and a layer of plastic or similar material. They won’t allow any sound in which also means that you won’t be able to hear quieter sounds. This can be useful on job sites but is not much of an advantage where you want to hear people talking or other types of noise. 

For that you’ll need something like earplugs. Earplugs only provide the foam layer and are not as nearly as advanced as similar options on the market. They aren’t often used much for protecting your hearing and instead are typically chosen for preventing annoying noises. However, they do limit the sound that you can hear significantly and can provide a certain level of protection. 

Earbuds are often the best choice for general use when protecting your hearing. These will mold to fit your ear and provide an airtight seal. However, rather than blocking the sound completely, you will still be able to hear. But the weight of the noise will be removed. This ensures that you don’t have to worry about potential significant damage which is fantastic. These can be made of material that automatically molds or they can be custom designed for the shape of your ear. You can speak to your audiologist about this.

Remember, that devices like this won’t just protect your ears from hearing loss. You can also avoid issues with tinnitus that can develop after being exposed to loud noises.