It’s likely that you’ve already noticed that you don’t hear as well as you used to. Normally, we don’t even realize that our choices are negatively affecting our hearing.
Many types of hearing loss are avoidable with several simple lifestyle changes. Let’s explore six surprising secrets that will help you protect your hearing.
1. Manage Your Blood Pressure
It’s not okay if your blood pressure remains high. A study revealed that individuals who have above-average blood pressure are 52% more likely to develop hearing loss, not to mention other health concerns.
Take steps to lower your blood pressure and prevent hearing damage. Don’t neglect high blood pressure or wait to see a doctor. Following your doctor’s orders, eating a healthy diet, managing stress, and exercising regularly are all parts of blood pressure management.
2. Quit Smoking
There are plenty of good reasons to quit smoking, here’s another: Smokers are 15% more likely to suffer from hearing loss. Even more shocking: People who are regularly subjected to second-hand smoke are 28% more likely to develop hearing issues. The dangerous consequences of second-hand smoke are not only harmful, they also hang in the air for long periods.
Consider protecting your hearing, if you’re a smoker, by quitting. Take steps to minimize your exposure to second-hand smoke if you hang out with a smoker.
3. Manage Your Diabetes
Diabetes or pre-diabetes affects one in four adults. Unless they make some serious lifestyle changes, someone who is pre-diabetic will probably get diabetes within 5 years.
Blood vessels that are injured by high blood sugar don’t effectively carry nutrients. A diabetic person is more than two times as likely to experience hearing loss compared to a non-diabetic person.
If you have diabetes, take the steps required to correctly manage it. If you are at risk of getting type 2 diabetes, safeguard your hearing by making lifestyle changes to prevent it.
4. Lose Some Weight
This isn’t about body image or feeling great about yourself. It’s about your health. As your Body Mass Index (BMI) goes up, so does your possibility of hearing loss and other health conditions. The risk of getting hearing loss goes up by 17% for a slightly obese woman with a BMI of 30 to 34. A moderately obese person has a 25% risk of hearing loss if they have a BMI of 40.
Work to eliminate some of that excess weight. Your life can be prolonged and your hearing can be protected by something as simple as walking for 30 minutes each day.
5. OTC Medications Shouldn’t be Overused
Hearing loss can be the consequence of certain over-the-counter (OTC) medications. The risk increases when these medicines are taken regularly over lengthy periods of time.
Common over-the-counter medications that affect hearing include aspirin, NSAIDs (such as naproxen, ibuprofen), and acetaminophen. Use these medications in moderation and only with your doctor’s guidance if you need to take them more regularly.
Studies demonstrate that you’ll most likely be okay if you’re using these medications occasionally in the recommended doses. The danger of hearing loss increases up to 40% for men, however, when these medicines are taken on a day-to-day basis.
Always follow your doctor’s orders. But if you’re taking these medications every day to control chronic pain or thin your blood, talk to your doctor about lifestyle changes you can implement to decrease your dependence on OTC drugs.
6. Eat More Broccoli
Broccoli is high in nutrients and vitamins like C and K and also has lots of iron. Iron is essential to blood circulation and a healthy heart. Nutrients and oxygen are transported to your cells which helps keep them nourished and healthy and iron is a major part of this process.
For vegetarians or people who don’t eat meat very often, eating a sufficient amount of plant-based iron is important. The iron found in plants is not as bioavailable as the iron in meat so people in this group are more likely to be deficient in iron.
More than 300,000 people were examined by Pennsylvania State University. The researchers discovered participants with anemia (extreme iron deficiency) were twice as likely to develop sensorineural hearing loss as those without the disorder. Age-related irreversible hearing loss is what the technical term “sensorineural hearing loss” refers to.
Sound is received and sent to the brain by tiny little hairs in the inner ear which vibrate with the volume and frequency of that sound. If these hair cells die due to poor circulation or other concerns arising from iron deficiency, they won’t grow back.
Don’t wait to get a hearing exam because you’re never too young. Implement these steps into your life and prevent hearing loss.