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It is common to make at least one or two resolutions with the start of the New Year. What do you hope to achieve?! Common New Years’ resolutions include eating healthier, starting an exercise routine, starting a new project, or reaching out to old friends. However, if you are one of 48 million people in the US with a hearing loss it can be difficult to achieve any of these goals. Untreated hearing loss not only makes it difficult to hear but makes it hard to connect to friends, stay motivated and can lead to chronic anxiety and depression. To get the most out of this next year, it is important to stay on top of our health issues and this includes treating hearing loss. Make 2022 a year where hearing loss doesn’t get in the way of your dreams and goals.
Hearing Loss is Often Permanent
Hearing loss is a serious communication issue in part because it is often irreversible. While we collect sound with our ears, it is the job of cells in the inner ear to pass these sounds on to our brain. Loud noises can often cause so much vibration in the inner ear, permanently damaging or destroying these important cells – leaving us with a hearing loss that will last a lifetime. With hearing loss comes communication barriers making it harder to connect to loved ones, issues moving forward at work, succeeding in educational environments, and slowly impeding our cognitive functioning. Make 2022 a year where you actively protect your valuable hearing.
Protect Your Hearing
One in three Americans with hearing loss has noise-induced hearing loss. If you feel that a sound is too loud, don’t be ashamed to walk away and take some space. Sound is measured in decibels and any sound over 85 dBa can start to permanently damage your ears. When you can reduce the volume, but when you can’t there is always hearing protection. Foam earplugs or protective earmuffs can lower the decibels in a room from anywhere to 15 -33 dBa, making it safe for your ears during a workday or during a loud hobby or sport.
Eat a Healthy Diet
Eating healthier is a common New Year’s resolution because ultimately it can enhance how you feel daily. A diet rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and lean proteins such as legumes, fish, and poultry can improve your energy levels, sense of well-being, help prevent cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes. It can also help protect your hearing. A 2019 study, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology included data from 3,135 women and cross-examined their dietary choices with their rates of hearing loss. Over the span of three years, the research found that those who reported closely adhering to commonly recommended healthy diets were 25 percent less likely to develop high-frequency hearing loss than those who didn’t. The study further found that “the odds of a decline in mid-frequency hearing sensitivities were almost 30 percent lower among those whose diets most closely resembled these healthful dietary patterns,” said lead author Dr. Sharon Curhan, MD, a physician and epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston.
Exercise
Another common New Year’s resolution may add an extra boost to your hearing health as well. The cells which send sound to your brain within the inner ear rely on a healthy supply of blood. With regular exercise and a healthy diet, you can help protect your hearing in the new year among other amazing benefits to your health such as avoiding hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
Have Your Hearing Tested
To start this new year right make sure you have your hearing tested. Even if you already have had a hearing test or know of a hearing loss, it is a progressive condition, meaning it can become worse over time. Make sure to have your hearing checked regularly. Benefits of identifying hearing loss early and beginning rehabilitation can include improved cognitive stimulation, reducing the risk of dementia five-fold.
Hearing loss not only helps you stay connected to the people in your life but helps you stay safe. It has been reported that the risk of falling is three times greater in people with untreated hearing loss, while treatment significantly decreases that risk. Overall, you will find that addressing hearing loss now can improve the quality of your life through many aspects. Start this year out right and schedule a hearing test now!