Making Healthy Choices

Patients sometimes ask me what they can do to prevent hearing loss or prevent it from worsening. As with many health conditions, hearing loss is a combination of genes and environment. While we can't control our genes, we do have control over our environmental exposures. Therefore, metabolic health and environmental noise exposure are critical areas for optimal hearing health. 

Let's look at some points to consider below.

Don't Smoke

It’s just a fact: Smoking is bad for your health and your ears. Studies have shown that smoking nearly doubles the risk of developing age-related hearing loss. Not only that, but nicotine and other harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke irritate the middle ear and Eustachian tube, increasing the likelihood of ear infections. So quitting smoking and even staying away from secondhand smoke, is one of the best things you can do for your overall health and maintaining healthy ears.

Take Your Vitamins

Studies show that certain supplements like vitamin D and A, plus folic acid are essential for good ear health. Some other nutrients are also protective against hearing loss: β-carotene, vitamin C, and magnesium.These vitamins work together to support the inner ear and prevent damage to auditory cells that could lead to hearing loss over time. Eating foods rich in these vitamins or taking multivitamins with these ingredients can help maintain holistic and metabolic health, with the positive side effect of healthy ears and reduced risk of developing hearing loss.

Use Hearing Protection              

Protecting your ears is another crucial step in maintaining good ear health. The cells in your inner ear depend on a healthy environment to function well and do their job. Therefore, avoiding harmful chemicals like cigarette smoke is vital to preserving their function. However, just as important is to prevent noise pollution in your environment. While sound is invisible, the effects of loud sound exposure have a very real impact on your hearing health over your lifespan.

How can you do that? Limiting the volume when listening to music or using hearing protection when working with machinery or in other loud settings will help reduce noise-induced damage over time. Always remember that if you’re exposed to loud noises consistently over time it’s best practice to wear hearing protection or limit your length of exposure. Consider using a Decibel Meter app to check your sound exposure.

See Your Doctor Regularly

Prevention is critical to keeping yourself healthy and maintaining well-being. Schedule your annual physical with your doctor to catch any health concerns early. Conditions such as diabetes, autoimmune disorders, or heart disease, impact your hearing and overall health. Patients are sometimes surprised to learn that their health conditions can show up on their audiogram. However, any condition that affects blood flow to the cochlea can impact hearing. By keeping those annual appointments, you'll be sure to keep your health in check or take action early if any concerns arise.

Hygiene

While the ear is generally self-cleaning, some of us are more prone to wax build-up due to our ear anatomy or surgical history. Keeping the ear free of build-up from wax or debris will keep you hearing your best.

Earwax 

Earwax plays a vital role in keeping our ears healthy by trapping dirt and debris to prevent infection. It is essential to keep the amount of wax in our ears at a healthy level. To note, too little wax may lead to dryness which creates irritation, while too much wax may lead to muffled hearing. Regular professional cleaning is helpful to keep the ear canals from getting plugged up with wax for those who get too much wax build-up.