Here’s to a New Year for Better Ears

If you’re still thinking about a New Year’s resolution, consider some preventative measures and solutions that will lower risks to your hearing health.

Preserve Your Hearing

In the U.S., one in three people has noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). It occurs when sensory cells (hair cells) located in the inner ear (cochlea) become impaired. Any contact with a loud noise, factoring in the intensity and duration, can cause permanent harm or destruction to the hair cells. It’s important to note that after the hair cells are destroyed, they cannot regrow.  Seriously consider these three tips to protect your hearing:

• Protect your ears and hearing abilities by wearing earplugs or earmuffs. 
• Simply move as far away from the source of the sound as possible.
• Reduce the volume level of your car stereo, personal listening device, radio, TV, speakers, or surround sound system.

Don’t Smoke

Regular smokers are twice as likely to have hearing loss compared to non-smokers. A non-smoker who lives with a smoker is also more likely to develop hearing loss. Cigarettes that contain nicotine, along with carbon monoxide, actively work to restrict the flow of blood. It thwarts oxygen from circulating through the inner ears. Poor blood flow can cause your ear’s sensory cells to deteriorate. 

Get Regular Exercise 

Taking care of your overall health can impact how good your hearing can be. Regularly exercising, no matter how simple or rigorous, can lower chronic illnesses and further problems with your hearing abilities.   

Those who are overweight are more prone to have type 2 diabetes. Patients with diabetes are twice as likely to lose their hearing. Obesity causes a person’s heart to do extra work so that blood will adequately circulate throughout the body. That includes circulating through the ears. High blood sugar levels can harm the inner ear’s blood vessels and impact how well a person can hear.     

Get Your Hearing Tested

The first step to identifying if you have hearing loss is by receiving a hearing test. As with any health concern, early treatment can help your quality of life. 

• A happier life that lets you interact easier with others. People who receive hearing aids are more likely to have a supportive social circle. 
• Lower the risks of cognitive decline by stimulating your brain through your sense of hearing and efficient communication skills. A person is five times more likely to experience dementia if they do not receive treatment for their hearing loss. Cognitive decline has slowed and improved by using hearing aids. 
• Decrease risks of falls. Falls are three times more likely to occur in patients who have not received treatment for their hearing loss. Vertigo symptoms decrease when people wear hearing aids. Problems with the inner ear can cause a floating sensation or a misleading feeling of motion.  
• Your income can be affected by inadequate help and a lack of proper accommodations for hearing loss. Those with hearing loss can lose nearly $30,000 in their annual income due to poor work performance connected to their hearing problems and inadequate accommodations. Regularly wearing hearing aids and receiving proper accommodations can help them earn fair wages.  

For this New Year, include hearing health as part of your resolutions for this year and beyond by contacting Northumberland Hearing Center for a hearing exam and consultation.  

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