Your hearing is one of your most delicate senses. Exposure to loud sounds, dramatic changes in pressure and other environmental factors can quite easily cause damage to your hearing, resulting in issues like tinnitus and hearing loss. Your audiologist can help you with hearing problems like this, giving you the chance to improve your hearing and make it easier to live a normal life.

Of course, though, before you get to the stage of experiencing hearing loss, you should do everything you can to protect your hearing from damage. This article will be exploring some of the key factors your need to understand about hearing protection to make sure that you can get the most out of it.

The Right Type of Hearing Protection

There are a lot of different types of hearing protection on the market. You need to make sure that you are using an option that is suitable for the type of work that you are doing, even if this means that you need to do some research.

According to Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), people should use hearing protection when they are exposed to sound levels greater than 85 decibels (dB) for long periods. The type of hearing protection isn’t specified, but it is always best to assume that the louder a sound, the more protection you need.

Earplugs are one of the most common forms of hearing protection available on the market. They are effective, but they won’t be able to perform as well as a pair of active noise cancellation earmuffs. Many modern hearing protection products come with the ability to adjust the types of sounds that are allowed into your ears.

Most countries have their own standards for hearing protection, making it challenging to know what to look for without doing some learning, first.

Exposure Time Counts

The amount of time that you are exposed to loud sounds can have an impact on the effectiveness of your hearing protection. Many people don’t realize this, assuming that their hearing protection is working when they are exposed to sounds for a long time.

This can be particularly dangerous at work, as most people have very little control over the audio levels in their workplace. If you are exposed to noise all day, you need to make sure that your boss is providing you with the right level of hearing protection for the job that you do. It can be all too easy to work hard without realizing that you are hurting yourself.

It’s Worth the Investment

It can be all too easy to make the mistake of buying cheap hearing protection products when you’re looking at items like this. You need to make sure that you choose hearing protection that will be able to provide you with the level of safety you need.

Skimping on items like this can leave you with inadequate protection, especially if the hearing protection you buy lacks the right standards in your country. Unfortunately, it is usually up to customers to determine the quality of a product, and this makes it worth reading reviews and doing plenty of research before you buy your hearing protection.

This can also apply to those having hearing protection supplied by their bosses. While you may not be able to pick the exact option you get, you can push your boss to buy hearing protection that meets the right standards.

Why Do You Need Hearing Protection?

As mentioned above, your hearing is possibly the most delicate sense you have. Over-exposure to loud sounds can cause permanent damage to your hearing, resulting in issues like hearing loss and tinnitus. Solving these problems doesn’t have to be hard with the help of an audiologist. Whether you need a hearing aid or a blockage removed, audiologist will be able to provide the right level of care for your ears. 

You can contact Affordable Audiology & Hearing Service at (920) 267-5220 to talk to our friendly team of audiologists. We are always happy to help with advice and hearing assessments and can provide you with the care you need to regain your sense of sound.