Chances are you’ve already observed that you don’t hear as well as you used to. In most cases, we don’t even recognize that our choices are negatively affecting our hearing.
With a few simple lifestyle changes, many kinds of hearing loss can be prevented. What follows are 6 secrets that will help you preserve your hearing.
1. Manage Your Blood Pressure
It’s not good if your blood pressure stays high. A study determined that people with above-average blood pressure are 52% more likely to have hearing loss, not to mention other health problems.
Take steps to decrease your blood pressure and prevent hearing damage. Don’t ignore high blood pressure or wait to see a doctor. Following your doctor’s orders, managing stress, eating a healthy diet, and getting regular exercise are all parts of blood pressure management.
2. Stop Smoking
Here’s another reason to quit: Hearing loss is 15% more likely to impact smokers. Even more shocking: Individuals who are frequently exposed to second-hand smoke are 28% more likely to have hearing problems. Even if you go away from the room, smoke remains for long periods of time with detrimental repercussions.
If you’re a smoker, protect your hearing and consider quitting. Take steps to reduce your exposure to second-hand smoke if you spend time around a smoker.
3. Keep Your Diabetes Under Control
Diabetes or pre-diabetes impacts one in four adults. A pre-diabetic person is very likely to develop diabetes within 5 years unless they make significant lifestyle changes.
Blood vessels that are injured by high blood sugar don’t efficiently carry nutrients. Compared to a person who doesn’t have diabetes, a diabetic person has more than twice the chance of developing hearing loss.
If you have diabetes, protect 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 is more about your health than feeling good about how you look. As your Body Mass Index (BMI) rises, so does your possibility of hearing loss and other health disorders. The chance of developing hearing loss goes up by 17% for a mildly obese woman with a BMI of 30 to 34. For an individual with a BMI of 40 (moderate obesity), the risk goes up to 25%.
Work to eliminate some of that excess weight. Your life can be prolonged and your hearing can be safeguarded by something as basic as walking for 30 minutes every day.
5. OTC Medicines Shouldn’t be Overused
Hearing loss can be the result of some over-the-counter (OTC) medications. The more often these medicines are used over a prolonged period of time, the higher the risk.
Typical over-the-counter medications that impact hearing include aspirin, NSAIDs (such as naproxen, ibuprofen), and acetaminophen. Take these medicines in moderation and only with your doctor’s advice if you need to take them more regularly.
Studies reveal that you’ll most likely be fine if you’re using these medications periodically in the suggested doses. Using them daily, however, raises the risk of hearing loss by up to 40% for men.
Your doctor’s guidance should always be implemented. Your doctor may be able to suggest some lifestyle changes that will lessen your dependence on these medicines if you are using them every day.
6. Eat More Broccoli
Broccoli is loaded with iron along with essential nutrients like vitamins C and K. Iron is essential to blood circulation and a healthy heart. Iron helps your blood carry oxygen and nutrients to cells to keep them healthy and nourished.
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.
More than 300,000 individuals were studied by Pennsylvania State University. Individuals who have anemia (extreme iron deficiency) are two times as likely, according to this research, to experience sensorineural hearing loss than individuals who have normal iron concentrations. Sensorineural hearing loss is the scientific name for permanent hearing loss associated with the aging process.
Sound is picked up and sent to the brain by delicate little hairs in the inner ear which vibrate with the volume and frequency of that sound. If these hair cells die as a result of poor circulation or other complications arising from iron deficiency, they never grow back.
You’re never too young to have your hearing checked, so don’t wait until it’s too late. Counter hearing loss by implementing these simple secrets in your daily life.
