Hearing protection is incredibly important in our increasingly noisy world. If something is over 70 decibels in volume, it can harm your hearing over a period of time or repeated exposures. Download the free NIOSH SLM phone app if you want to estimate the loudness of your everyday life, and watch the following video of Dr. Egan as she talks about other tips and tricks for hearing protection.
Hi, this is Dr. Egan from Now Hear This, and today I wanted to talk to you about something very close to my ears and my heart, and that is hearing protection.
As some of you may know, I recently bought a house and moved to Holly Springs, North Carolina. Well, Holly Springs is a very noisy place to live. There is construction going on along all the different interstates. Housing complexes are being put up left and right. A new UNC Rex hospital is being built on the corner, so there are sirens going in and out. Noise conservation and hearing protection are just so important. This topic is very close to my heart and my home because living in Holly Springs has reminded me of just how noisy life can be.
It’s actually really interesting—there are articles showing that living in a place with a lot of noise can be harmful not only to your ears but can also elevate your blood pressure and stress levels. So, if you are somewhere that has loud sound, we want to make sure we get away from it as much as possible. If it’s loud enough that you have to shout to be heard, that is an easy way to measure that something can be dangerously loud.
For example, if my neighbor in Holly Springs is mowing his lawn and I have to yell to my husband to be heard, it is time for me to get some distance between myself and the lawn mower. At the same time, if you are the person mowing the lawn, make sure you’re wearing hearing protection, either muffs or plugs. Pay attention to the NRR or Noise Reduction Rating because we want to preserve your hearing for as long as possible.
Outside of the home, if you’re somewhere like a concert, make sure that you bring earplugs with you. We offer custom music filters here at the clinic if that is ever of interest to you. Of course, in environments like construction zones, if you’re driving nearby, roll the windows up. All these small actions can make a huge difference because every loud sound you hear over a lifetime accumulates and can cause noise-induced hearing loss in your auditory system.
If you’re a hearing aid user, we want to preserve the hearing you have left. If you don’t need hearing aids yet, we want to prevent intervention for as long as possible. Take it from me—I live in a very noisy world right now! Protect your ears as much as possible.
There is also some research showing that antioxidants taken before a noisy event—such as a concert or a loud environment—can help protect the inner ear from noise damage as well.
So, do what you can to protect your ears and keep them healthy as long as possible.
Of course, I hope you learned something from this video, and have a wonderful day!
