Summer has finally arrived!
This summer season has a lot of fun. But before you go to the beach, the concert, or the backyard cookout, remember to protect your hearing.
When you’re out enjoying summer, do keep in mind that your hearing can be damaged by loud noises. In the summer you’re a lot more likely to be exposed to loud sounds, so it’s really important to take the appropriate steps to protect your hearing.
One of the most important steps is utilizing earplugs, particularly under certain conditions.
Swimming
Even in clean pools, there can be parasites and bacteria that can result in swimmer’s ear. Earplugs will help keep water out of your ears and stop infection.
While pool-borne infection isn’t usually serious, contaminated water getting inside of your ear canal can have harmful effects. It can cause inflammation, pain, and even short-term hearing loss.
Left unaddressed, infections can result in damage to the eardrum and the fragile inner workings of the ear.
It’s not possible to totally avoid all pathogens in pools or hot tubs, but using swimming earplugs will help protect your ears.
Live performances and concerts
Summer is the perfect time for an evening of live music. But live concerts are usually very loud.
You might be exposed to more than 120dB of volume depending on where you’re standing. That’s enough to trigger instant and lasting hearing loss.
Earplugs will block some of that sound but won’t distort it. Earplugs have an NRR rating with a range of 20 to 33, which identifies the strength of the protection. An NRR of 20 will reduce the sound by 20 dB. So a 120-dB concert will be reduced to around 100 dB.
But that degree of sound can still potentially harm your hearing.
Safeguarding your hearing will mean utilizing a higher NRR the closer to the speakers you will be standing. Within 15 minutes, you can develop permanent hearing damage even if you make use of the highest level of protection. For the highest level of protection, stand a distance from the speakers and wear earplugs.
This doesn’t only apply to concerts, it’s also relevant for things like festivals, movies, plays, sporting events, and any other event where sound will be amplified through speakers.
Yard work
You do it every week, but the grass keeps growing. You regularly edge the flowerbeds and weed the steps to keep your yard from looking like a mess. Then you utilize 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. Earplugs will help decrease the noise from these tools and protect your hearing.
If you’re not using earplugs when you run the mower, over time, you will be observably causing hearing loss.
Independence Day
They’re a key part of Independence Day. When July arrives, it’s time to celebrate the birth of our country. But there’s a dark side to fireworks. The noise they produce can exceed 175 dB. If you fired a gun right near your head it would be around this volume.
You’ll absolutely want earplugs if you’re attending a big fireworks show. If you’re close to the action, the highest NRR rating is advisable. You’ll still hear the fireworks and they’ll still be loud, but you’ll be protecting your ears from future hearing loss.
It’s important to safeguard your ears
Get help before your hearing loss becomes profound. Hearing loss related to loud noise can’t be corrected and since it occurs so gradually, most people don’t realize they’re harming their hearing. Get your hearing checked routinely by us to determine your risk level.