Our hearing is an important function which helps us navigate through our daily activities. It is one of the five senses that we heavily rely on and may often take for granted. There are activities that we partake in knowingly and unknowingly that can be of great harm to our hearing. But wearing hearing protection can be of meaningful use in helping to protect and preserve our hearing.
When we wear hearing protection in loud environments, it reduces our chances of nerve damage and hearing loss. Attending concerts, sporting events, or using a snow blower, firearm or fireworks are all extremely loud activities. These activities are well above 85 decibels which marks the danger zone for our hearing. The average noise level in our homes can be as loud as 40 decibels, with normal conversations at 60 decibels.
Noise protection helps us maintain the hearing we have. Unfortunately, in most instances when we lose our hearing, we cannot get it back naturally. That is why hearing professionals recommend hearing aids in a lot of these cases.
It is essential to our hearing health to wear noise protection whenever needed. This will allow us to retain the hearing we have and to continue enjoying basic activities such as one on one conversations, and tv watching without limitations.
Lastly, hearing protection can help protect not just against noise, but also infections of the ear canal. Doing things like showering or swimming can cause water to get trapped in our ears, promoting bacteria growth. Custom earplugs are designed with anti-bacterial material to prevent water from intruding into our ears. Using this form of ear protection can also guard against a potential temporary hearing loss which may need to be treated with antibiotics due to an infection.
Considering the aforementioned; it’s easy to see the importance of hearing protection. So remember, stay safe and guard up.
Decibel Chart below:
References:
https://caryaudiology.com/blog/3-reasons-ear-protection-is-important
https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/health-topics/tf4173
https://www.starkey.com/blog/articles/2017/05/Ear-infection-caused-hearing-loss