During quarantine you might have used mobile devices, your stereo, or your TV more than you are used to. While you do that, it is important to make sure you take good care of your ears. While everyone knows that you use your ears for having a conversation, watching TV, or listening to music, your hearing has multiple more uses that are more subtle. Your hearing helps you talk, you use it while walking or driving, you use it to hear laughter, you use it to hear what is happening in a bustling street, or just to enjoy the sounds of nature out on a walk in the woods. Ultimately, your hearing is incredibly important, and it is smart to take care of it on a daily basis – and especially the way you listen to electronic devices.
Here are a few things you can do to take care of your ears in your daily life:
1. When playing music or listening to devices, a healthy range of decibels is below 70db and should keep your ears in good shape. So, don’t blast the volume if you don’t need to. Examples of sounds over 85db are shooting and hunting, snowmobile riding, having the sound all the way up in headphones, playing in a band, and loud concerts.
2. Other important factors to consider when experiencing loud sounds is the distance between yourself and the sound. So, keep your distance from loud sounds that bother your ears. The closer you are to the sound, the higher the risk of causing damage to your ears.
3. If you go to a live concert, bring some basic earplugs just in case it is too loud. Just because a concert is loud, doesn’t mean that the sound technicians should have it that loud. Sometimes sound technicians don’t take good care of their hearing, they experience hearing loss, and they don’t realize a concert is too loud when they are in charge of the volume. Your hearing is more important than the volume preference of a Rock Band. So, take care of your ears! There is no shame in keeping your ears healthy for the rest of your life!
4. Figure out what noises in your daily life are above 85 decibels, wear proper ear protection when expecting to be around loud noises (earplugs or earmuffs), put a safe distance between yourself and sounds above 85 decibels if possible, become aware of surrounding sounds, and have your ears checked if you have any concerns.
If you have not been taking care of your ears , and you find that you have a hard time distinguishing what people are saying or constantly turning up the volume on the TV to understand what you’re hearing, you might potentially have early signs of premature Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL). You might also have the symptoms of tinnitus (ringing in ears), buzzing, or roaring in your ears.
So, what can you do if you wonder if you might have hearing loss like NIHL? Contact an audiologist or your primary doctor to get properly diagnosed, follow their instructions to treat your symptoms, and find out how you should care for your ears.
All in all, your hearing is an amazing gift from God, and enjoying and playing music is a great way to use it! The Jerry Evans School of Music offers music lessons year round to help you experience your passions and dreams in music! Woohoo!
Get in touch with JESM music teachers today by calling (630) 359-7725 and/or email us at admin@jeschoolofmusic.com.
