8 Better Hearing Health Tips in 2020

January 21, 2020

As we head into a new year, I’m sure you’re thinking about some new year’s resolutions. Is your hearing health part of that? Good hearing health is more than just having your hearing tested… eventually.

Here are 8 tips for better hearing health to keep your ears happy and healthy in 2020.

#1 Wear hearing protection in noisy environments (concerts, working with machinery or power tools, etc.)

Any noise over 80dB can damage your ears depending on how long you’re exposed to it. The best rule of thumb is if it’s loud, use protection. The foam earplugs you can get from the drug store work great for short-term use. If you are always working in a noisy environment for long periods of time, then you should consider a pair of custom hearing protectors or hearing moulds like the dB Blockers. dB Blockers™ offer “The Smartest Hearing Protection in the World” especially where interpersonal communication is required. dB Blockers™ are custom fit to each individual wearer for maximum comfort and hearing protection. Learn more: 

For more information about working in noise, click HERE 

#2 Have your ear wax removed professionally; no Q-tips!

Q-tips can cause more harm than good; they dry out your ear canals and can push the wax further into your ear. It’s best to have a professional take a look at them or try using natural oil drops at home to help push the wax out naturally.

#3 When using headphones, keep the volume below 60%

Similar to noisy environments, when we wear headphones we should use caution as well. As the sound is being directly streamed into our ear it can easily become too loud and tire out our ears. 60% or less of your volume will keep you hearing clear without causing any damage to your ears.

#4 Get moving

Believe it or not, your ear health is related to your heart health; some would even say “the ear is the window to the heart.” Physical activity decreased the risk of heart disease, thus keeping your ears healthy too!

#5 Quit Smoking

Smoking decreases blood flow. This can disrupt the flow of blood through the vascular system of the ears reducing the oxygen needed for your inner ear to function at its best. For more information check out this blog fromAudicus.

#6 Eat a well-balanced diet

Diet and exercise can do wonders for a variety of different medical conditions, including reducing the risk of hearing loss. Eating foods that are high in Omega 3s, antioxidants, magnesium, vitamin A, vitamin E, zinc, and folate can help protect you from age-related, noise-induced, and sudden hearing loss. Eat your greens and fatty fish!

 

 

hearing health comorbidities

# 7 Don’t ignore early signs of hearing loss

When you can’t hear, you can’t engage. Hearing loss has been associated with isolation, depression, and even Alzheimers and Dementia. If certain sounds aren’t heard, areas of the brain aren’t activated, and the brain tends to forget those sounds. It’s like the old saying “use it or lose it.” The good news is that hearing aids can help this.  Hearing aids allow the brain to hear sounds it’s missing, increasing brain activation, and providing you more confidence in conversation. Catching hearing loss early allows for the best results with hearing aids and rehabilitating your brain.

#8 Have your hearing tested regularly (once a year or every few years is great!).

Even if you’re not concerned now, having a baseline of your normal hearing is always good information to have. Plus, as said above, early intervention can truly make a difference in treating hearing loss. Make a hearing test part of your annual whole health checkup (ears, eyes, teeth… the whole thing!).

Love your ears with these tips for better hearing health so that you’ll hear clearer in 2020. 


SOURCE
https://www.theeardepot.com/8-tips-for-better-hearing-health-in-2020/

Is Technology Use Is Damaging our Children’s Hearing?

December 19, 2019

U.S. Parents Worry Popular Technology Use Is Damaging Their Children’s Hearing But Still Plan to Purchase Tech Gifts This Holiday Season

ASHA Shares “Safe Listening” Advice This Cyber Week

ROCKVILLE, Md. (December 3, 2019) A new national poll of more than 1,100 parents of children under age 18 finds that seven in 10 parents are concerned about their child developing hearing damage from listening to popular technology devices such as music players, tablets, and smartphones—and 86% think their children listen to their devices at volumes that are too loud.

Commissioned by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and conducted by YouGov November 1–5, 2019, the polling also shows that despite concerns, over half of parents plan to purchase a tech-related gift for their child this holiday season.

“With the holiday shopping season in full swing, many parents are purchasing personal technology devices as well as related accessories such as earbuds or headphones for their kids,” said Shari Robertson, PhD, CCC-SLP, ASHA 2019 President. “For us, this is the ideal time to encourage smart shopping habits for parents as well as offer safe listening advice they can impart to kids as they give them these gifts.”


Source

https://www.multivu.com/players/English/8460154-asha-safe-listening-tips-holiday-poll/

Listen Up about Workplace Noise Monitoring

November 7, 2019

Listen Up about Workplace Noise Monitoring – Kicking it up a notch

According to OSHA, each year 22 million employees are exposed to hazardous noises at work, making hearing loss the most common work-related injury. It’s time to understand, and consider, the role technology can play in workplace noise monitoring.

According to OSHA, each year 22 million employees are exposed to hazardous noises at work, making hearing loss the most common work-related injury. It’s time to understand, and consider, the role technology can play in workplace noise monitoring.
Setting Standards in Place

 

noise

The goal of all employers should be for their employees to leave work in the same condition as they began—healthy and safe. When an organization displays its dedication to employee safety through responsible practices and initiatives, it results in increased productivity and employee morale, as well as decreased insurance costs.

In 2018, ISO 45001 was established as the new standard for occupational health and safety (OHS) to reduce the burden of regulation and prevent workplace injuries and fatalities, providing a framework to improve employee safety and create safer working conditions. It is an international standard that specifies requirements for an OHS management system, with guidance for its use and to enable an organization to proactively improve its OHS performance in preventing injury and ill health. ISO 45001 is intended to be applicable to any organization regardless of its size, type, or nature, and all of its requirements are intended to be easily integrated into an organization’s own management processes.

Hazards and risks in the workplace need to be identified and, more importantly, eliminated or reduced to appropriate levels.

ISO 45001 highlights both noise and dust exposure issues, as well as the value of workplace monitoring. Research shows that stronger occupational regulation of noise leads to safer sound levels, which results in safer employees.

Impacts of Occupational Hearing Loss

NIOSH recommends that workers are not exposed to noise at a level that amounts to more than 85 decibels (dBA) over eight continuous hours. An estimated 24 percent of hearing loss in the United States has been attributed to workplace exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although noise-induced hearing loss is one of the most common occupational illnesses, it is often ignored because there are no visible effects. It usually develops over a long period of time and, except in very rare cases, there is no pain. What does occur is a progressive loss of communication, socialization, and responsiveness to the environment. In its early stages, it affects the ability to understand or differentiate speech. As it progresses to the lower frequencies, it begins to affect the ability to hear sounds in general.

The primary effects of workplace noise exposure include noise-induced temporary threshold shift, noise-induced permanent threshold shift, acoustic trauma, and tinnitus. A noise-induced temporary threshold shift is a short-term decrease in hearing sensitivity that returns to the pre-exposed level in a matter of hours or days, assuming there is not continued exposure to excessive noise.

If noise exposure continues, the shift can become a noise-induced permanent threshold shift, which is a decrease in hearing sensitivity that is not expected to improve over time. If workers experience standard threshold shifts, employers are required to fit or refit the workers with hearing protectors, train them in the use of the hearing protectors, and require the workers to use them.

 

noiseThe effects of excessive noise exposure are made worse when workers have extended shifts (longer than eight hours). With extended shifts, the duration of the noise exposure is longer and the amount of time between shifts is shorter. This means that the ears have less time to recover between noisy shifts and damage can more quickly become permanent.

Tinnitus, or “ringing in the ears,” can occur after long-term exposure to high sound levels, or sometimes from short-term exposure to very high sound levels. Regardless of the cause, this condition is a disturbance produced by the inner ear and interpreted by the brain as sound. Individuals with tinnitus describe it as a hum, buzz, roar, ring, or whistle, which can be short term or permanent.

Hazardous levels of noise exposure should be a priority for employers to monitor to avoid implications for both themselves and their employees.
Measuring noise levels and noise exposure is the most important part of a workplace hearing conservation and noise control program. It helps identify locations where there are noise problems, employees who may be affected, and where additional noise measurements need to be made.

Changing the Workplace with Technology

To assess the risk of workplace noise, a variety of monitoring solutions may be installed and utilized. Noise dosimeters are ideal for personal exposure monitoring and a mobile workforce, while sound level meters can be used to check areas or an individual’s exposure for a stationary task. Plus, we are also seeing in an increase of customized hearing protection such as molded hearing like dB Blockers. Customized hearing solutions are costly up front but they last 5 years and are custom fit to the ear leaving little margin of noise error.

Noise exposures are monitored using established technology and are the responsibility of occupational hygienists, a health and safety manager, or another trained expert. Data collection provides concrete information highlighting key paths for change and can help the organization to achieve compliance with government standards and protect its workforce effectively. Some of the devices that companies are using are Fit Check Testing devices where they will measure any earplug from any source. Some examples of these are Custom Protect Ear’s FitCheck Solo.

To increase the success of workplace noise monitoring, workers must understand its importance and the long-term, negative health effects that could result. If noise monitoring technology is used, quantitative data can be captured and any risks or potential areas of concern can be identified.


SOURCE
By Justin StewartSep 01, 2019 – https://ohsonline.com/Articles/2019/09/01/Listen-Up-Kicking-Workplace-Noise-Monitoring-Up-a-Notch.aspx?Page=3

What is National Audiology Awareness Month

October 17, 2019

October Is National Audiology Awareness Month
& National Protect Your Hearing Month

Over 36 million American adults have some degree of hearing loss. The statistics are shocking and even more so knowing that over half of those 36 million Americans are younger than age 65 . Hearing loss is an increasing health concern in this nation that is often preventable. Taking time to see an audiologist for regular hearing screenings and knowing the signs of hearing loss can protect your hearing.

Audiologists

The American Academy of Audiology is dedicated to increasing public awareness of audiology and the importance of hearing protection. We have created a variety of educational activity worksheets for parents, teachers, and kids to use in support of this month’s celebration.

Click here to “Find an Audiologist” in your area and make an appointment this October during National Audiology Awareness Month and National Protect Your Hearing Month to get your hearing tested.

Fact Sheets

The Academy has prepared these fact sheets as tools for you to use. Simply download, print, and go. Leave them in the waiting room at your school, the local grocery store, and the community center.

What Is an Audiologist
Hearing Loss
Hearing Loss and Infant Hearing Screening
Hearing Loss in Children
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss
Hearing Health Quick Test
Noise in the Work Place

Protect Your Hearing

ProtectEar USA,  has been providing custom industrial hearing protectors (earplugs) to Americans for over 36 years. The custom dB Blocker hearing protectors (earplugs) are more effective for the prevention of noise-induced hearing loss than disposable earplugs.

We deliver a defect-free custom hearing protection product to our customers on time, every time. Guaranteed. PLUS not only do dB Blockers provide superior hearing protection from hearing loss than foam plugs, but they are also more cost effective as well.

ProtectEar USA, exclusively distributes products developed by North America’s largest personalized industrial hearing protector manufacturer, Custom Protect Ear. Custom Protect Ear manufactures the following products:

dB Blockers™ | dB Blockers™ offer “The Smartest Hearing Protection in the World”, especially where interpersonal communication is required.

dB Com™ | dB Com™ provides custom industrial hearing protection that allows for two-way communication which fits the individual to their work environment, reducing the harmful frequencies they’re exposed to.

dB Life™ | Personal dB BlockersWith dB Life™, conversations become clearer and more engaging; music reveals background sounds and layering, and a good night’s sleep goes uninterrupted.

FitCheck Solo™ FitCheck Solo is ProtectEar’s newest product and is the only Field Attenuation Estimating System (FAES). FitCheck Solo is the latest and most accurate tool in the fight against noise-induced hearing loss.

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For More information about National Audiology Awareness Month click here


SOURCE

https://www.howsyourhearing.org/awareness.html