Everyday Activities That Could Harm Your Hearing

When you are experiencing dips in your hearing, it's important to address them as early as possible so that you can get the help that you need from an expert audiologist. Whether this means that you are given the right hearing protection or you want to ensure that you are avoiding activities that affect your hearing, you need to make sure that you have a hearing assessment to know what the problem is in the first place.

There are a lot of things that can lead to hearing loss, and an audiologist can talk you through all the issues that could be affecting your hearing. In younger people, this is even more prevalent as younger people tend to be exposed to loud noises in excessive amounts and it shouldn't be a surprise that common things like music concerts and events can damage hearing, too.

It's worth being aware of how exposed you are too high levels of noise, especially as anything higher than 85 decibels can cause hearing issues that could lead to long term damage. It could surprise you that there are some common, everyday activities out there that you are doing that will lead to hearing loss and we've got them listed for you below. Avoid these as much as possible and you will be able to avoid exacerbating the issue going forward.

When is it too much noise?

Before we go into the things that could affect your hearing long term, let's talk a little about when noise becomes too much for us humans. From the activities at work and home there is a level of noise where it becomes harmful. Mowing the lawn with a rev of more than 85 decibels can damage your hearing, as can having your earbuds in your ears blasting music to the top volume.

Seventy-five decibels is roughly the same amount of sound as a busy street, and anything above 85dB can affect your hearing in a negative way. It wouldn't necessarily cause damage instantly, but prolonged exposure over a length of time and the longer you keep the volume turned up, the worse the damage. You'd need eight hours of continuous exposure to do damage to your hearing at 85dB.

When you crank the volume to 95dB, you will only have about an hour before the true damage is done. When it comes to sounds as loud as 120 or 130dB, hearing loss comes instantly and painfully. Let's take a look at some of the things that you do everyday that can affect your hearing.

Using earphones or earbuds

When you plug headphones or earbuds into smartphones, tablets and computers, you are putting sound directly into your ears. You have to be very careful with the volume when you have something emitting sound so deeply into your ears. You have to be wary of just how loud the volume is given that most devices can hit 105dB without trying very hard. High volumes like this will be okay for no more than ten minutes, and the same can be said for the TV and music in your home, too.

Events and concerts

Like most people, the atmosphere of a concert or event is one of the thrills that you have in life. If you enjoy attending concerts, then the best thing that you can do is to consider wearing hearing protection to concerts. You can still hear the music, but you won't be able to hear it banging into your ears like you would if you didn't have the hearing protection on in general. Concerts can hit loud volumes at 100dB, and as sports stadiums are designed to amplify the music, you have to be aware of this before you go.

Power tools

Did you know that power tools can affect your hearing negatively, too? You need to remember your hearing protection items before you get started, as you could protect your hearing for longer when you have your ears covered. Drills and saws can create noise all the way up to 100dB, and that means earmuffs are a must!

City traffic

Commuting to work every day should be easy, but if you are commuting to work and noticing that you are coming home with headaches, you could blame the traffic noise of the city. The level of noise can go between 80 and 90dB. This can take a long time to cause damage, but if you're in an area constantly exposed to this traffic, it could be time to bring out the hearing protection on your drive!

Contact us now

Protecting your hearing should be a priority of yours. Speak to our audiologists today about your hearing and how you can better protect it at Hearing & Balance Centers of West Tennessee call us today at Jackson: (731) 256-5973or Memphis: (901) 201-6761.