You’ve most likely already noticed that your hearing is failing. Hearing loss often progresses as a result of decisions you make without recognizing they’re affecting your hearing.
Many types of hearing impairment are preventable with a few simple lifestyle changes. What follows are 6 tips that will help you preserve your hearing.
1. Manage Your Blood Pressure
It’s not okay if your blood pressure stays high. A study found that hearing loss was 52% more likely with individuals who have above average blood pressure and they’re more likely to have other health problems as well.
Avoid injury to your hearing by taking actions to reduce your blood pressure. Consult a doctor as soon as possible and never disregard your high blood pressure. Following your doctor’s guidance, eating a healthy diet, managing stress, and exercising regularly are all parts of blood pressure management.
2. Stop Smoking
There are plenty of good reasons to quit smoking, here’s another: Hearing loss is 15% more likely to impact smokers. Even more alarming: People who are frequently exposed to second-hand smoke are 28% more likely to develop hearing problems. Even if you leave the room, smoke hangs around for long periods of time with hazardous consequences.
Think about protecting your hearing, if you smoke, by quitting. Take steps to minimize your exposure to second-hand smoke if you hang out around a smoker.
3. Control Your Diabetes
One in four adults is either pre-diabetic or diabetic. A pre-diabetic person is extremely likely to develop diabetes within 5 years if they don’t make serious lifestyle changes.
High blood sugar damages blood vessels, which makes it extremely hard for them to efficiently carry nutrients. A diabetic person is more than twice as likely to cope with hearing loss compared to a non-diabetic person.
If you suffer from diabetes, safeguard your hearing by taking the appropriate steps to manage it. Protect your hearing by making lifestyle changes if you are at risk of type 2 diabetes.
4. Lose Some Weight
This isn’t about body image or feeling great about yourself. It’s about your health. As your Body Mass Index (BMI) goes up, so does your risk of hearing loss and other health disorders. The risk of developing hearing loss rises by 17% for a mildly obese woman with a BMI of 30 to 34. For a person with a BMI of 40 (moderate obesity), the risk rises to 25%.
Work to get rid of some of that excess weight. Your life can be prolonged and your hearing can be safeguarded by something as simple as walking for 30 minutes every day.
5. Don’t Overuse OTC Drugs
Certain over-the-counter (OTC) medicines can cause hearing impairment. The danger goes up when these medications are taken on a regular basis over lengthy periods of time.
Typical over-the-counter medicines that affect hearing include aspirin, NSAIDs (like naproxen, ibuprofen), and acetaminophen. Take these medications sparingly and consult your doctor if you’re using them regularly.
If you’re taking the recommended dose for the periodic headache, studies suggest you’ll probably be okay. The danger of hearing loss increases up to 40% for men, however, when these medicines are used on a day-to-day basis.
Your doctor’s orders should always be implemented. Your doctor might be able to suggest some lifestyle changes that will lessen your dependence on these medications if you are taking them every day.
6. Eat More Broccoli
Broccoli is high in nutrients and vitamins like C and K and also has lots of iron. Iron is integral to a healthy heart and proper blood circulation. Oxygen and nutrients are transported to your cells which helps keep them healthy and nourished and iron is a major part of this process.
If you’re a vegetarian or eat very little meat, it’s important that you consume enough plant-based iron. You’re more likely to be iron deficient because the iron found in plants is less bioavailable than the iron found in meat.
Pennsylvania State University researchers examined over 300,000 individuals. The researchers discovered participants with anemia (severe iron deficiency) were twice as likely to experience sensorineural hearing loss as those without the disorder. Sensorineural hearing loss is the scientific term for permanent hearing loss related to the aging process.
Sound is picked up and sent to the brain by delicate little hairs in the inner ear which vibrate with the frequency and volume of that sound. If these hair cells die as a result of poor circulation or other complications related to iron deficiency, they never grow back.
You’re never too young to have your hearing examined, so don’t wait until it gets worse. Implement these steps into your life and prevent hearing loss.