5 ways to prevent hearing loss

5 Ways to prevent hearing loss

1. Avoid loud noises

The best way to avoid noise-induced hearing loss is to keep away from the loud noise as much as you can.

Generally, a noise is probably loud enough to damage your hearing if:

• you have to raise your voice to talk to other people
• you can't hear what people nearby are saying
• it hurts your ears

You have ringing in your ears or muffled hearing afterward Noise levels are measured in decibels (dB): 

the higher the number, the louder the noise. Any sound over 85dB can be harmful, especially if you're exposed to it for a long time.

To get an idea of how loud this is:

• whispering – 30dB
• conversation – 60dB
• busy traffic – 70 to 85 dB
• motorbike – 90dB
• listening to music on full volume through headphones – 100 to 110dB
• plane taking off – 120dB

You can get smartphone apps that measure noise levels but make sure they're set up (calibrated) properly to get a more accurate reading.

2. Take care when listening to music

Listening to loud music through earphones and headphones is one of the biggest dangers to your hearing.

To help avoid damaging your hearing:

• use noise-canceling earphones or headphones – don't just turn the volume up to cover up outside noise
• turn the volume up just enough so you can hear your music comfortably, but no higher
• don't listen to music at more than 60% of the maximum volume – some devices have settings you can use to limit the volume automatically 
• don't use earphones or headphones for more than an hour at a time – take a break for at least 5 minutes every hour

Even just turning down the volume a little bit can make a big difference to your risk of hearing damage.

3. Protect your hearing during loud events and activities

To protect your hearing during loud activities and events (such as at nightclubs, gigs or sports events):

move away from sources of loud noises (such as loudspeakers)

try to take a break from the noise every 15 minutes

give your hearing about 18 hours to recover after exposure to lots of loud noise

consider wearing earplugs – you can buy reusable musicians' earplugs that reduce the volume of music but don't muffle it

4 Take precautions at work If you're exposed to loud noises through your work, speak to your 

Human resources (HR) department or manager.

Your employer is obliged to make changes to reduce your exposure to loud noise – for example, by:

• switching to quieter equipment if possible
• making sure you're not exposed to loud noise for long periods
• providing hearing protection, such as earmuffs or earplugs
• Make sure you wear any hearing protection you're given.

5. Get your hearing tested

Get a hearing test as soon as possible if you're worried you might be losing your hearing. The earlier hearing loss is picked up, the earlier something can be done about it.

You might also want to consider having regular hearing checks (once a year, say) if you're at a higher risk of noise-induced hearing loss – for example if you're a musician or work in noisy environments.

Find out more about protecting your hearing on the Action on Hearing Loss website.

Now we have some horrendously bad headphones that are expensive and being sold to the unwary as if they are the best, with overly emphasized low-frequency bass. 

To hear the music, voices, higher frequencies, one has to turn the volume up louder which in turn increases the lower frequencies even further! These lower frequencies are not heard as much as they are felt, and when they are this loud, without the listener realizing it, the Permanent damage is taking place. What's worse, this lower frequency hearing loss causes one to turn the volume up further so it can be heard, causing even more severe damage to all hearing frequencies.

There really is no need for such high listening volumes, higher than live music, especially not the insanely amplified sounds at some 'rave' concerts or huge fields where the hearing impaired at the distant seats are trying to hear what is happening on a stage a mile away, and the people near the stage are quickly joining the hearing impaired crowd! The truth is that actual live music is not that loud, especially when amplified appropriately.

What does a guitar sound like in a room or a piano, or even a set of drums? That is the highest volume or sound level one should use to replay music as it recreates the actual event, emotion and scales the dynamics as it was meant by the artist. Accurate and realistic. 

A good pair of headphones can reproduce that with great accuracy, but even the best headphones cannot provide the physical impact that all sound has on the rest of the body, so some keep turning up the volume expecting to get that physical response. By then, the sound level in the phones is far above normal and hearing damage is occurring.

Understanding these issues, an audiophile can use decent, accurate, properly balanced headphones and achieve close to life like music reproduction with no hearing loss, in fact, could even develop more acute hearing as they hear every detail and sound as recorded.

No, headphone use does not cause permanent hearing loss if one does it intelligently!