TIPS TO PROTECT YOUR HEARING FROM GETTING WORSE

While hearing loss is usually permanent, there are certainly ways to prevent it from getting worse. Here are four simple tips to protect your hearing, whether you already have hearing loss or not.

Follow a healthy lifestyle

An individual's blood chemistry may affect their hearing health. The inner hair cells located inside the cochlea are delicate sensory organs that help us listen and are susceptible to changes in blood chemistry. Our hearing can be adversely affected by changes in blood chemistry.

Many different health complications can lead to hearing loss, such as hypertension (Agarwal S et al., 2013), diabetes (Al-Rubeaan K et al., 2021), heart disease, etc. (Sterling et al., 2018). Everything in the body is connected.

Certain activities, such as smoking (Dawes et al., 2014) can affect our hearing health. Exercising (Chul H et al., 2016) and maintaining a healthy diet (Jung SY et al., 2019) can help improve our hearing health.

Wearing hearing protection and avoiding noisy environments

Exposure to loud noise may be one of the biggest culprits of hearing loss (Mirella MM, et al., 2013). Very loud noises such as gunshots or fireworks at close range can cause permanent damage within seconds, while "less loud" sounds can cause temporary or permanent hearing loss after a few hours of exposure.

Hearing protection such as earplugs or earmuffs are often recommended in noisy environments such as concerts, clubs and around noisy machines. Taking breaks from noisy activities can also help give your ears time to rest.

Ototoxic medications and earwax management

Certain medications can cause hearing loss, also known as "ototoxic medications (Joo Y et al., 2019)." Talk to your doctor about ototoxicity and how your medication regimen may affect your hearing. If you are taking medications that may be ototoxic, be sure to consult an audiologist to monitor your hearing.

Wearing hearing aids

Medical research suggests that wearing hearing aids may slow the progression of hearing loss (Thatcher, 2021). Hearing aids may also help stimulate auditory pathways in the brain and keep the auditory processing centers of the brain active (Shoup, 2021).

I recently spoke with a Chosgohearing client who had just started using hearing aids. She had been trying a pair of Chosgohearing for a few weeks and felt a noticeable improvement. When she took out her hearing aids at night, she realized how much she was missing out on. She expressed concern because she felt her Chosgohearing was becoming increasingly hearing dependent. I assured her that research had shown that her hearing aids might be picking up sounds that her brain had not been exposed to in a long time. After our discussion, I shared some articles to read and the client felt more confident and motivated to wear her hearing aids.

Better hearing is a journey, and that journey is often accompanied by many questions. chosgohearing Sharing these questions and concerns with someone who can help answer your questions and share resources is critical to understanding hearing health and setting appropriate expectations for better hearing.