Better hearing can help improve your health as well as increase your overall quality of life. Below are our five easy ways you can improve your hearing.
Stop Smoking
Smoking cigarettes is terrible for all aspects of your health. If you need one more reason to quit this expensive habit, research continues to come out linking smoking to hearing loss.
A 2018 study of Japanese workers between 20 and 64 years of age determined that after eight years, people who smoked were 60 percent more likely to develop high-frequency hearing loss thanthose who didn’t. And the more they smoked, the higher their risk.
Experts believe the nicotine and carbon monoxide in cigarettes tighten your blood vessels, starving your inner ear of oxygen. This can cause the hair cells within the cochlea to die, leading to hearing loss.
Take a Walk
Exercise can help improve your overall health while also increasing blood flow to your ears, which they require in order to translate vibrations into electrical impulses. Since the tiny hairs within the inner ear do not regenerate, taking proper care of them is important.
The American Heart Association recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise five days a week. While walking may be the easiest way to meet this goal, any form of physical activity you enjoy counts.
Turn Down the Volume
One of the easiest ways to protect your hearing and prevent noise-induced hearing loss is to reduce the volume of noise in your environment. Anything over 85 decibels (the sound of city traffic) can cause damage to your ears. In addition to wearing hearing protection and moving away from loud noises, simply turning the volume down on your television, radio and headphones can help keep your ears safe.
Schedule a Hearing Test
The only way you will know if you have hearing loss is to schedule a hearing exam. Your audiologist will review your medical history, complete a physical exam of your ear and then order a series of quick and painless tests to determine your exact type and degree of hearing loss. These tests may include:
- Pure tone testing
- Bone conduction testing
- Speech testing
- Tympanometry
- Acoustic reflex testing
- Otoacoustic emissions
Treat Your Hearing Loss
If you have been diagnosed with hearing loss, you are doing yourself a grave disservice by not following the treatment plan put together by your audiologist. For most, this plan will include the use of hearing aids.
In addition to improving your ability to hear, hearing aids can improve your physical and mental health.
To learn more about how you can improve your hearing or to schedule an appointment with a hearing expert, contact Total Hearing Care of Dallas today.
