You’ve most likely already noticed that your hearing is failing. Normally, we don’t even realize that our choices are negatively affecting our hearing.
With a few basic lifestyle changes, many kinds of hearing loss can be avoided. Let’s look at six unexpected secrets that will help you preserve your hearing.
1. Regulate Your Blood Pressure
Persistently high blood pressure is not good. A study revealed that hearing loss was 52% more likely with people who have higher than average blood pressure and they are more likely to have other health issues also.
Reduce damage to your hearing by taking actions to reduce your blood pressure. Don’t ignore high blood pressure or wait to see a doctor. Management of blood pressure includes proper diet, exercise, stress management, and following your doctor’s orders.
2. Quit Smoking
There are plenty of reasons to quit smoking, here’s yet another: Smokers are 15% more likely to develop hearing loss. What’s even more surprising is that there’s a 28% higher probability of someone developing hearing problems if they are regularly subjected to second-hand smoke. Even if you leave the room, smoke lingers for long periods of time with hazardous repercussions.
Think about protecting your hearing, if you smoke, by quitting. If you hang out with a smoker, take steps to decrease your exposure to second-hand smoke.
3. Keep Your Diabetes in Check
One out of four adults is either pre-diabetic or diabetic. A pre-diabetic person is highly likely to develop diabetes within 5 years unless they make serious lifestyle changes.
High blood sugar harms blood vessels, which makes it extremely hard for them to efficiently carry nutrients. Compared to someone who doesn’t have diabetes, a diabetic person has more than twice the chance of developing hearing loss.
If you suffer from diabetes, take the steps necessary to properly control it. Safeguard your hearing by making lifestyle changes if you are at risk of type 2 diabetes.
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 risk of hearing loss and other health conditions. A slightly obese woman (with a 30 to 34 BMI) has a 17% higher risk of developing hearing loss. For somebody with a BMI of 40 (moderate obesity), the risk goes up to 25%.
Work to get rid of some of that excess weight. Your life can be prolonged and your hearing can be protected by something as basic as walking for 30 minutes every day.
5. OTC Medications Shouldn’t be Overused
Certain over-the-counter (OTC) medicines can result in hearing loss. The more often these drugs are taken over a prolonged period of time, the higher the risk.
Medications such as acetaminophen, naproxen, ibuprofen, and aspirin are known to cause hearing loss. Take these drugs moderately and seek advice from your doctor if you’re taking them on a regular basis.
Studies demonstrate that you’ll probably be okay if you’re taking these medications occasionally in the recommended doses. Taking them every day, however, raises the chance of hearing loss by up to 40% for men.
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 reduce your dependence on OTC drugs.
6. Eat More Broccoli
Broccoli is full of nutrients and vitamins including C and K and also has lots of iron. Iron is essential to blood circulation and a healthy heart. Iron helps your blood carry oxygen and nutrients to cells to keep them nourished and healthy.
If you’re a vegetarian or don’t eat much 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 twice as likely, according to this research, to experience sensorineural hearing loss than people who have normal iron concentrations. Sensorineural hearing loss is the scientific name for irreversible 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 poor circulation or an iron deficiency causes these little hairs to die they will never grow back.
Don’t wait to get a hearing exam because you’re never too young. Counter hearing loss by using these simple tips in your day-to-day life.