Chances are you’ve already detected that you don’t hear as well as you once did. Hearing loss often progresses due to decisions you make without realizing they’re impacting your hearing.
Many types of hearing loss are preventable with several basic lifestyle changes. Let’s explore six unexpected secrets that will help you preserve your hearing.
1. Manage Your Blood Pressure
Persistently high blood pressure is not okay. A study found that individuals who have higher than-average blood pressure are 52% more likely to develop hearing loss, not to mention other health concerns.
Reduce damage to your hearing by taking actions to reduce your blood pressure. Consult a doctor as soon as possible and never disregard your high blood pressure. Following your doctor’s guidance, eating a healthy diet, managing stress, and exercising regularly are all parts of blood pressure management.
2. Stop Smoking
Here’s another reason to quit: Smokers are 15% more likely to suffer from hearing loss. What’s even more surprising is that there’s a 28% higher chance of someone developing hearing issues if they are regularly exposed to second-hand smoke. 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 smoke, by quitting. Take actions to minimize your exposure to second-hand smoke if you hang out around a smoker.
3. Keep Your Diabetes in Check
One out of four adults is either pre-diabetic or diabetic. Unless they make some significant lifestyle changes, someone who is pre-diabetic will probably get diabetes within 5 years.
Blood vessels that are damaged by high blood sugar don’t effectively carry nutrients. A diabetic person is more than twice as likely to experience hearing loss compared to a non-diabetic person.
If you have diabetes, protect your hearing by taking the proper steps to control it. If you are at risk of getting type 2 diabetes, protect your hearing by making lifestyle changes to avoid it.
4. Lose Some Weight
This isn’t about body image or feeling good about yourself. It’s about your health. Hearing loss and other health conditions increase as your Body Mass Index (BMI) rises. A slightly obese woman (with a 30 to 34 BMI) has a 17% increased chance of developing hearing loss. A moderately obese person has a 25% chance of hearing loss if they have a BMI of 40.
Take measures to lose that excess weight. Your life can be prolonged and your hearing can be safeguarded by something as simple as walking for 30 minutes every day.
5. Don’t Overuse OTC Medications
Hearing impairment can be the result of certain over-the-counter (OTC) medications. The more frequently these medicines are used over a long period of time, the greater the risk.
Typical over-the-counter medicines that affect hearing include aspirin, NSAIDs (such as naproxen, ibuprofen), and acetaminophen. Use these drugs in moderation and only with your doctor’s guidance if you need to take them more frequently.
If you’re taking the suggested dose for the occasional headache, studies indicate you’ll probably be fine. Using them every day, however, raises the risk of hearing loss by as much as 40% for men.
Always follow your doctor’s advice. Your doctor may be able to suggest some lifestyle changes that will reduce your dependence on these drugs if you are using them every day.
6. Eat More Broccoli
Broccoli is full of nutrients and vitamins like C and K and also is high in iron. Iron is vital to blood circulation and a healthy heart. Oxygen and nutrients are carried to your cells which helps keep them nourished and healthy and iron is a significant part of this process.
If you’re a vegetarian or don’t eat much meat, it’s important that you consume enough plant-based iron. 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. People who have anemia (severe iron deficiency) are two times as likely, according to this research, to experience sensorineural hearing loss than individuals who have typical iron concentrations. Sensorineural hearing loss is the scientific name for irreversible hearing loss related to the aging process.
Sound is picked up and sent to the brain by fragile little hairs in the inner ear which vibrate with the volume and frequency of that sound. If these hair cells die because of poor circulation or other complications arising from iron deficiency, they never grow back.
You’re never too young to get your hearing checked, so don’t wait until it gets worse. Counter hearing loss by applying these simple secrets in your everyday life.