Avoiding swabs and monitoring your headphone volume help protect your hearing

Around one in 10 people in Spain are living with a certain degree of hearing loss, especially people over the age of 50. A common hearing problem is tinnitus, which is when we hear a ringing or buzzing sound in one or both ears, even if there is no external sound source.

This phenomenon affects some 740 million people (mostly older adults) and can be disabling. Causes include loud noise and using headphones. Preventing hearing loss is in our hands.

Five healthy ear habits

Unlike other organs, the ear is very delicate, which is something we often overlook. There are a number of different habits we can make to keep our hearing healthy. Take a look at these tips:

Avoid loud noises

Keep the volume on TV and music down, and don’t have several electronic devices on at the same time. If you’re at a concert or a noisy place, stand away from the loudspeaker. If your workplace environment is noisy, try to wear insulating headphones or earplugs.

Watch the headphones

Try to keep the volume below 60% and limit use to an hour a day. You should be able to hear the sounds around you even with your headphones on. If you hear a beep when you take them off, you’ve been wearing them too long.

Swabs are out

Although they seem very practical after a shower, cotton swabs can damage the ear. In fact, wax is a lubricant that protects against infection. Instead of pulling it out of the year, we push it in with the swabs. A better option is washing your ears with soap and water and then dry them thoroughly.

Switch ears when you’re on the phone

We tend to spend a lot of time with our ears glued to our phones, with everything that goes with it. So switch up your ears from time to time and try not to press the phone too hard against your ear.

See a specialist

Just like you do with your eyes and the rest of your body, you should get regularly check-ups for your ears, especially after the age of 50 when hearing loss starts to become apparent.

Putting these simple tips into practice is the best way to protect your ears and keep your hearing healthy.

Sources:

10 consejos para cuidar tus oídos. Óptica universitaria. December 2023.

El 10% de la población española tiene pérdida auditiva y solo 4 de cada 10 afectados utilizan audífonos. Diana Arrastia. La Vanguardia. July 2023.

This post is also available in: Portuguese (Portugal)