The Hidden Dangers of Everyday Life: 4 Unexpected Hearing Hazards You Need to Avoid Exposing Yourself To

So many of us take our senses for granted. In particular is our sense of hearing. From the day you were born (and even beforehand), you’ve been able to hear the sounds around you, whether that’s a loved one speaking to you, the birds in the trees, or even the sea in a shell.

This constant intake of information about our environment is something we’ve all lived with, but now imagine taking that away in an instant. Your world would be flipped upside down. However, this event taking place is a lot more common than you might think, especially since the world around us is laced with unexpected hearing hazards that could permanently damage your hearing.

To help you stay in the know, today we’re going to explore four of the most common hearing hazards, giving you everything you need to know in order to take precautions or avoid them completely.

#1 – Loud Music Events

This is perhaps one of the most obvious, but going into a club, concert, stage, festival or event where loud music is being played is one of the easiest ways to cause damage to your hearing. If this is the case, always make sure you’re wearing ear defenders to prevent any potential damage.

For example, rock concerts are renowned for exceeding the 100dB sound mark, which is a known boundary for creating long-term damage, especially over extended periods of time.

#2 – Hunting & Gun Fire

This is easily one of the most popular hobbies around the world, but without wearing proper ear protection, shooting a gun in a hunting situation, or in a firing range situation, can be extremely damaging to your hearing.

Most registered pistols can well exceed the 130dB mark, which is more than enough to cause conditions like tinnitus and ringing in the ears, especially if you’re exposed to it continuously and for prolonged periods of time.

#3 – Loud Vehicles

It might seem fun to spend an afternoon or several hours of a loud and fast vehicle, whether that’s a jet or motor ski, a motorcycle, or even a loud car, but spending too loud in these vehicles in a loud volume environment is a sure-fire way to cause hearing damage.

#4 – Video Games

Perhaps unbeknownst to many, if you’re playing video games for several hours and playing the sounds out of a dedicated speaker system or using high-quality headphones for a long period of time, this can constantly stimulate your eardrums, resulting in permanent damage.

The best idea here is to keep playing your video games at a medium to low volume, and always try to take breaks every few hours where you can give your ears a break from constantly having to listen to sounds.

Summary

As you can see, there are plenty of hazards that you might not think about but are vital to consider when it comes to protecting the quality of your hearing. Remembering, once you lose your hearing, it’s good for gone, unless you’re using any custom hearing solutions for the hearing impaired, so make sure you’re doing everything you can to look after yourself and your health.