Noise is a constant presence in our daily lives. Our surroundings—from traffic and lawnmowers to music via personal audio devices—is increasingly loud. Without proper care, this higher level of noise can result in damage to your ears. With National Protect Your Hearing Month taking place in October, now is the most suitable time to dedicate attention to preserving your hearing.
How to preserve your hearing: 8 key methods
Fortunately, there are simple steps you can take to protect your ears from the everyday noise around you. We present eight crucial pieces of advice to ensure auditory protection.
1. Know noise levels and their impact
To begin curbing hearing loss, you must know when noise intensity is too loud to tolerate. Different sounds produce varying decibel (dB) levels, and prolonged exposure can lead to permanent hearing loss. A fast summary is below:
- 85–90 dB: Lawn mowers, heavy traffic – Safe for up to 2 hours of exposure.
- At 100 dB (e.g., motorcycles, construction machinery), hearing damage can begin after only 15 minutes.
- Noises exceeding 110 dB (e.g., explosions, fireworks) can lead to immediate damage in just seconds.
By being proactive about how loud your surroundings are, you can effectively stay away from settings that pose a threat to your auditory health.
2. Check sound levels yourself
Want to know the actual volume of your surroundings? A smartphone makes checking sound levels effortless. There are many free applications that act as sound meters, allowing you to assess surrounding noise levels. The key to getting reliable data is to take the measurement from the distance you normally maintain from the origin of the sound.
If you use this measuring method consistently, you’ll gain a clearer insight into your environment and be equipped to make wise choices to guard your hearing.
3. Keep the volume down on your devices
Regularly playing music or podcasts too loudly is a leading contributor to progressive hearing damage. The ease of headphones and earbuds often comes with hidden risks. It’s important that many headphones can reach 100 dB, a level that can induce hearing loss in only 15 minutes of use.
Because they listen with earbuds at high volumes, more than a billion young people worldwide are currently facing a risk of hearing loss. To protect your ears, never turn your earbuds above 50% of their maximum volume. If you need to raise the volume higher to hear, that’s a clear indicator your hearing may already be damaged.
4. Never try to use music to drown out loud noise
If you reside in a noisy neighborhood or frequently work in loud environments, it might be tempting to use headphones to block out the background sound. However, turning the volume high enough to overpower the noise outside is unwise for your hearing. Instead, consider using noise-canceling headphones, which allow you to enjoy your music or podcasts at a much lower, less hazardous volume. In the absence of noise-canceling headphones, using earplugs is an effective substitute.
5. When in loud settings, use earplugs
Earplugs are essential for individuals often in loud settings, such as concerts, sports events, or while using heavy machinery. They are a highly effective yet simple hearing protection solution, being compact, inexpensive, and portable.
Custom-fitted earplugs are available for those who need them regularly, providing better comfort and protection than generic options. Never think twice about use earplugs when you are in a noisy location.
6. Adhere to safety recomendations at work
critically, if your occupation exposes you to loud machinery or equipment, you must ensure you follow the established safety guidelines for auditory protection. While some employers may underestimate the danger, those who insist “it’s not that loud” might already have serious hearing damage and be unaware of the actual volume. Take necessary steps to protect yourself by observing all guidelines and wearing the right protective equipment.
7. Distance yourself from loud noise
Sometimes the best way to protect your ears is simply to move away from the noise source. Distance reduces the intensity of sound impacting your ears, helping to minimize damage. As an illustration, a noise source at 110 dB will be reduced to roughly 100 dB if you stand 20 feet away—a level that allows for up to 15 minutes of safe exposure.
Consider fireworks as a relevant illustration. A firework exploding at 150 dB may seem far away, but if you’re near the launch site, the noise can still go beyond 120 dB, causing instant damage. You can still enjoy the display at a safer level, below 100 dB, by being 2,000 feet away (the length of about five football fields).
8. Existing hearing loss needs to be addressed promptly
If you’ve already developed hearing loss, it’s essential to act before it worsens. Auditory impairment is not self-reversing; it will progress. Statistics show that nearly 1 out of 10 adults in the 55-to-64 age group have serious hearing loss, and this percentage increases in later years.
When initial signs of hearing loss are ignored, it only causes the condition to progress faster. Typically, individuals delay seeking professional assistance by a full 7 years. By consulting a hearing specialist sooner and investigating treatments such as hearing aids, you significantly improve the potential for maintaining your existing hearing.
Start protecting your hearing now
Take advantage of National Protect Your Hearing Month as a chance to make hearing health a main concern. These easy-to-follow actions can have a major impact, regardless of whether you’re seeking to prevent future harm or you’ve already experienced some hearing loss.
book a hearing test now and gain control over your hearing health before the opportunity is gone.