Don’t you just love putting your earphones on and getting lost in the world of music? Music can indubitably understand our every mood even when the people around us cannot. But while you’re enjoying your favorite tune, you might not think about the damage your earphones are inflicting on your ears. Well, it might seem like a moot point to you right now, but hearing damage and loss is one of the top emerging health problems in the world. According to WHO, nearly 5.3% of the world population suffers from hearing loss while according to the study published in the Journal of Family Medicine and Care, that 6.3% of the patients suffer from hearing loss in India.
The biggest contributor to hearing loss and damage is noise. It is measured in terms of a unit called the decibel (dB). According to the UK’s National Health Service, any noise above 85 dB for persistent periods of time can be extremely harmful to your ears. Moreover, due to our rising dependence on headphones and earphones, hearing loss is an emerging problem in today’s world. While it’s understandable that our dependence on such devices for both professional and personal use can’t be given up, we can certainly adopt a few good practices.
7 Habits to Protect Your Ears from Hearing Loss in the Future:
- As noise above 85dB can damage your ears, it is recommended that you listen to sounds in the range of 60-80 dB. Even if the sound level crosses 85 dB, make sure that you don’t listen to it for a long period of time.
- Don’t listen to sounds above 80 dB for more than eight hours. We tend to just put our earphones and some music on while we are traveling and fall asleep. This habit of ours can certainly lead to hearing loss and damage in the future.
- Avoid putting any pointed objects in your ears as they can scratch your ear internally and lead to ear infections. Therefore, go for earphones with soft earbuds.
- Dust and microbes can often get caught in the earbuds of your earphones. Therefore, clean them regularly by following the instruction from the manufacturer to avoid any ear infections.
- Our ears have a mechanism to naturally clean themselves and it’s known as the production of ear wax. Earphones can clog the ear wax. To prevent this from happening, you can soften the ear wax by applying some almond oil or olive oil on an earbud and cleaning your ears with it. You can even go to your healthcare provider and get your ears irrigated.
- If you’re at an event where there’s loud music, then give your ears a break every few hours. Also, give your ears a ‘no noise’ environment for at least 18 hours to prevent any hearing loss and damage in the future.
- To keep track of your ear health regularly, install a hearing test app on a smartphone, and consult your ENT in case you face any issues.
Nearly 1.1 billion people across the globe are at risk of developing hearing loss and damage in the future due to increased use of earphones and headphones. Our future lies in our own hands. By adopting the seven good habits listed above, we can indubitably protect our ears and live a healthier and happier life.
