Summer is here!
This summer season has tons of fun. But before you hit the beach, the concert, or the backyard cookout, remember to protect your hearing.
Loud noises can harm your hearing, even if you don’t feel like they’re that loud. So it’s essential to take measures to protect your ears, especially during the summer months when you’re more likely to experience loud noises.
Here are some activities that are best enjoyed with earplugs.
Swimming
Bacteria and parasites love water and can even live in fairly clean pools potentially leading to swimmer’s ear. Earplugs will help keep your ears dry and stop infection.
While pool-borne sickness isn’t usually serious, polluted water getting inside of your ear canal can have harmful effects. It can lead to swelling, pain, and even short-term hearing loss.
Left unaddressed, infections can lead to damage to the eardrum and the fragile inner workings of the ear.
If you’re going into a hot tub or pool it won’t be possible to avoid all germs and pathogens, but your ears can get some protection by using a pair of swimmers earplugs.
Live performances and concerts
Summer is the ideal time for a night of live music. But live concerts are usually really loud.
You may be exposed to over 120dB of sound depending on where you’re standing. These volume levels can instantly cause hearing loss that can be permanent.
Earplugs will stop some of that sound but won’t distort it. Earplugs have an NRR rating with a range of 20 to 33, which establishes the strength of the protection. 20dB of sound will be stopped by earplugs with a 20 NRR rating. So a 120-dB concert will be reduced to around 100 dB.
But that amount of sound can still potentially damage your hearing.
Protecting your hearing will mean utilizing a higher NRR the closer to the speakers you will be standing. Even if you get the highest level of hearing protection, you will still be subjected to sounds loud enough to trigger permanent hearing damage within 15 minutes. For the best protection, stand a distance from the speakers and use earplugs.
This doesn’t only pertain to concerts, it’s also relevant for things like festivals, movies, plays, sporting events, and any other event where sound will be amplified through speakers.
Property maintenance
You do it every week, but the grass keeps growing. You take steps like edging flower beds and weeding the gardens so your yard looks nice. Then you utilize a weed-whacker to clean up around the trees.
Your hearing will definitely be compromised by the loud volume of yard equipment. Earplugs will help lessen the noise from these tools and safeguard your hearing.
If you’re mowing without earplugs, you’re gradually damaging your ears and it will become more apparent over time.
Independence day
They’re an essential aspect of Independence Day. When July arrives, it’s time to celebrate the independence of our country. But there’s a dark side to fireworks. They can produce up to 175dB of noise. If you fired a gun right near your head it would be about this volume.
If you’re attending a show in which the fireworks are thunderous and repeating, you’ll definitely need earplugs. You should acquire the highest NRR rated earplugs, particularly if you’re close. You’ll still hear the fireworks and they’ll still be loud, but you’ll be protecting your hearing from future hearing loss.
It’s important to protect your hearing
Don’t wait until your hearing loss is significant to seek help. Hearing loss caused by loud noise can’t be corrected and since it takes place so slowly, most people don’t recognize they’re damaging their hearing. Contact us right away so we can help you identify any risks you may have.