Do You Need Hearing Protection?

Our hearing is a precious thing, and we usually take it for granted until we experience hearing loss. While some hearing loss can be caused by certain medical conditions, it can often be caused by our lifestyles or jobs, which means that hearing protection can often reduce or eliminate the chances of our hearing is affected. 

So how do you know if you need to use hearing protection? 

Being Able to Hear Is Important for Safety

As well as being necessary to enjoy many things in life, such as music or talking with friends and family, there are many times that being able to hear clearly has an impact on our safety. This could be hearing a ringing phone or alarm in an emergency, a car horn when we’re driving. Not being able to hear these and miscommunication can result in accidents. 

Prevention Is Key

The hearing protection available today is very sophisticated and can protect your hearing in a variety of situations. As with most things, preventing hearing loss is preferable to trying to treat it, as it’s often not possible to reverse completely. 

You Work in A Noisy Environment

Lots of workplaces involve machinery or loud noises as part of their everyday operation. The constant loud noise and vibration of the equipment can affect your hearing over time. Your employer should provide you with the right kind of hearing protection, but if they don’t you may want to talk to your audiologist about the right kind of protection for your ears. 

It’s not just heavy machinery either. Other workplaces might play very loud music such as music venues or nightclubs. Musicians also need to use a suitable range of hearing protection to be able to hear the music but be shielded from the loudest aspects of it. 

Jobs like gardening, where you might be using loud mowers or saws, need ear protection. Even working near electrical units that emit a continuous buzzing can affect your hearing over time. 

Consider Accumulated Noise

It’s easy to think that you only need hearing protection if you’re in a very loud environment, such as a construction site or concert. In fact, being exposed to lower levels of sound, but over a sustained period, can cause greater hearing loss over the longer term. So don’t just think about the volume, but the length of time you’re exposed to the sound. 

How Hearing Protection Works

There are several different types of ear protection, from small disposable earplugs, custom-made plugs right the way through to earphone style models that go over your head and ears. Each type is suitable for different situations and levels of noise. The type you use depends on several factors such as the type of work you do, the volume and duration of noise you’re exposed to and advice from your audiologist. 

They work in similar ways, by stopping the sound waves affecting the inner structures of the ear, which are very delicate. 

If your job requires you to work in loud conditions, then your employer should provide you with the necessary hearing protection equipment. However, there are a lot of circumstances that hearing protection is necessary, talk to your audiologist, who will be able to ask you questions about your daily life, work and hobbies and recommend the right type of hearing protection for your needs.