{"id":1429,"date":"2023-03-09T11:44:50","date_gmt":"2023-03-09T19:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/?p=1429"},"modified":"2023-03-09T11:44:50","modified_gmt":"2023-03-09T19:44:50","slug":"ways-seniors-can-protect-their-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/ways-seniors-can-protect-their-hearing\/","title":{"rendered":"Ways Seniors Can Protect Their Hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Seniors are at a greater risk of developing <a href=\"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/hearing\/hearing-loss\/\">hearing loss<\/a> than younger adults. According to the National Institutes of Health, age-related hearing loss, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC3936539\/\">also known as presbycusis<\/a>, \u201cdevelops and is exacerbated by various factors, including heredity, medical disease and environmental factors.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s examine a few of these factors in greater detail as well as discuss how seniors can protect their hearing as they age.<\/p>\n<h2>Best Tips For Hearing Protection <img decoding=\"async\" title=\"senior-woman-ear-exam-hearing-loss\" src=\"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/iStock-1303038694-768x606.jpg\" alt=\"Smiling senior woman getting her ears examined at a hearing clinic.\" width=\"768\" height=\"606\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1432 alignright\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/iStock-1303038694-768x606.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/iStock-1303038694-1280x1010.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/iStock-1303038694-1536x1212.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/iStock-1303038694-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Protect your ears from loud environments<\/strong>. Any prolonged exposure to noise levels above 85 decibels can cause permanent noise-induced hearing loss. Many common activities can easily reach these volumes, including going to concerts at the Wonder Ballroom, attending live sports events, riding motorcycles or snowmobiles or working in loud environments like construction sites. Thankfully, you can still engage in activities you enjoy by wearing <a href=\"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/hearing\/hearing-loss\/hearing-protection\/\">hearing protection<\/a> like earplugs or custom earmolds in loud environments.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Check the volume on your devices<\/strong>. It\u2019s important to keep the volume at a reasonable level when you listen to music on headphones or earbuds or when you\u2019re watching TV. When watching television, make sure it\u2019s loud enough to hear but not so loud that you can hear it in other rooms of the house. You can also use health apps on your smartphone to make sure you\u2019re listening to music in a safe decibel range.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Manage other health conditions. <\/strong>Conditions like heart disease and diabetes can damage the blood vessels of your inner ear and lead to hearing loss if they are not well controlled. If you have any of these conditions, make sure you are managing them with a healthy diet, proper exercise, taking your medications and having regular checkups with your primary care provider.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Talk with your doctor about medications. <\/strong>Some medications are ototoxic, meaning they can damage your ear and lead to problems like hearing loss, balance issues and tinnitus. Talk to your doctor about any prescription or over-the-counter medication that you use to see if it could harm your hearing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Seniors Should Get Their Hearing Tested<\/h2>\n<p>If you are over the age of 50, you should talk with your medical provider about scheduling an appointment for a hearing test, even if you don\u2019t have noticeable symptoms. Hearing loss can come on gradually and often goes unnoticed in its early stages. However, like with any chronic condition, the earlier it\u2019s diagnosed, the easier it is to manage.<\/p>\n<p>If your test shows that you have hearing loss, your audiologist will most likely recommend hearing aids. They will work with you to determine what pair best meets your hearing needs as well as feels comfortable and fits with your individual lifestyle.<\/p>\n<p>For more information or to schedule an appointment, contact <span class=\"company-name \">Mt. Hood ENT &amp; Allergy<\/span> today.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"related-posts\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/what-does-fluttering-in-the-ear-mean\/\" class=\"related-post\">What Does Fluttering in the Ear Mean?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/can-ear-infections-cause-hearing-loss\/\" class=\"related-post\">Can Ear Infections Cause Hearing Loss?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/how-exercise-can-affect-your-hearing-health\/\" class=\"related-post\">How Exercise Can Affect Your Hearing Health<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Seniors are at a greater risk of developing hearing loss than younger adults. According to the National Institutes of Health, age-related hearing loss, also known as presbycusis, \u201cdevelops and is exacerbated by various factors, including heredity, medical disease and environmental factors.\u201d Let\u2019s examine a few of these factors in greater detail as well as discuss&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1432,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","position":"","credentials":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":"","locid":"","rating":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hearing-loss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1429"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1433,"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1429\/revisions\/1433"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mthoodent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}