Summer is here!
This summer season offers a lot of fun. But keep the health of your hearing in mind before you head out for a day on the beach, a rocking concert, or perhaps a great backyard barbecue.
When you’re out appreciating summer, remember that your hearing can be damaged by loud noises. So it’s essential to take steps to safeguard your ears, especially during the summer months when you’re more likely to experience loud noises.
Here are some activities that are best enjoyed with earplugs.
Swimming
Even in clean pools, there can be bacteria and parasites that can lead to swimmer’s ear. You can prevent infections by keeping your ears dry and earplugs can help you do this.
While pool-borne infection isn’t usually serious, contaminated water getting into your ear canal can have harmful effects. Short-term hearing loss, pain, and swelling can be the consequence.
Left unaddressed, infections can result in damage to the eardrum and the delicate inner workings of the ear.
It’s not possible to totally avoid all pathogens in hot tubs or pools, but using swimming earplugs will help safeguard your ears.
Concerts and live performances
Attending a concert is always fun, particularly during the summer. But live concerts are typically very loud.
You could be exposed to more than 120dB of volume depending on the spot that you’re standing. These volume levels can instantly cause hearing loss that can be permanent.
Earplugs are designed to reduce sound, not distort it. Earplugs have an NRR rating with a range of 20 to 33, which identifies the strength of the protection. 20dB of sound will be blocked by earplugs with a 20 NRR rating. So if you’re at a concert with 120dB of sound, it will be reduced to 100dB.
But that degree of sound can still potentially damage your hearing.
Safeguarding your hearing will mean utilizing a higher NRR the closer to the speakers you will be standing. Even if you get the highest level of hearing protection, you will still be exposed to sounds loud enough to trigger permanent hearing damage within 15 minutes. Wear earplugs and stand well away from the speakers for best protection.
This doesn’t only pertain to concerts, it’s also true for things like festivals, movies, plays, sporting events, and any other event where sound will be amplified through speakers.
Yard work
The grass will keep growing so mowing will be required pretty much weekly. You regularly edge the flowerbeds and weed the steps to keep your yard from looking like a mess. Then you use a weed-whacker to touch up around the trees.
Power equipment and other yard tools can be very loud, and sustained exposure can and will harm your hearing. The noise from this equipment can be reduced and your ears can be safeguarded by wearing earplugs.
If you’re not using earplugs when you operate the mower, over time, you will be observably doing hearing loss.
Independence Day
They’re a key aspect of Independence Day. On the 4th of July, we will all be celebrating our country’s independence. But there’s a negative side to fireworks. The noise they make can exceed 175 dB. If you shot a gun right next to your head it would be around this volume.
If you’re attending a show in which the fireworks are thunderous and repeating, you’ll definitely need earplugs. You should acquire the highest NRR rated earplugs, especially if you’re close. You’ll still hear the fireworks and they’ll still be loud, but you’ll be safeguarding your ears from future hearing loss.
It’s important to protect your hearing
Don’t wait until your hearing loss is extreme to seek help. Hearing loss related to loud noise can’t be corrected and since it happens so slowly, most people don’t recognize they’re harming their hearing. Give us a call right away so we can help you identify any risks you might have.