The short answer is, no. In general, your hearing can deteriorate over time due to several factors, including changes in the inner ear and damage to your auditory nerve pathways. It is estimated that approximately one-third of people over 65 have some degree of hearing loss.
How does this happen and what can you do to preserve your hearing as you get older? It’s a complex topic, but we try to explain it further below.
What Causes Hearing Loss In Adults?
There are numerous causes of hearing loss in adults. Most of the causes of hearing loss stem from environmental factors where people are frequently subjected to loud noises that have the potential to damage a person’s hearing.
Attending a live concert or visiting a nightclub once might temporarily damage your inner ear but frequent visits to these places might permanently damage your inner ear. Another potential cause is work environments involving heavy machinery such as factories where workers are exposed to machines that generate loud noises over long periods.
How Do You Preserve Your Hearing As You Age?
Avoid Loud Noises
Turn down the volume when you listen to music, podcasts, or audiobooks. Prolonged exposure to loud noises is the most common factor for deteriorated hearing. This warning goes out to all audiophiles who prefer to listen to classical music at loud volumes.
But if environmental factors are beyond your control, it is best to wear hearing protection like ear plugs or ear muffs whenever possible. Wearing hearing protection can help reduce noise levels by up to 15 decibels.
It’s also good to remember that environments with sounds at 85 decibels or higher tend to be damaging to the ear.
Avoid Smoking
Smoking leads to numerous health problems including hearing loss. In a study conducted at a hospital, it was revealed that smoking is strongly linked to hearing impairment. The results showed that 65.7% of the smokers had hearing impairments in comparison with only 15% of non-smokers who had this issue.
Doctors believe there is a link between carbon monoxide and nicotine that can constrict blood vessels, starving your inner ears of the oxygen it needs for the hair cells in your cochlea to function correctly.
It’s best to kick this habit not only to preserve your hearing as you get older, but also to reduce the risk of other health issues such as lung cancer, heart problems, stroke, etc.
Regular Checkups
Regular checkups are important because early detection of any illnesses like hearing loss or medical conditions will lead to better medical outcomes.
Doctors have studied that people who do not go for regular checkups are more vulnerable to ear infections, and potentially deteriorated hearing loss. It’s something that many people do not notice until it’s too late.
Signs & Symptoms Associated with Hearing Loss in Older Adults:
Difficulty understanding conversations in noisy environments
One of the indicators of potential hearing loss is difficulty in hearing conversations in noisy environments, such as a crowded restaurant or a dinner party. This is one of the earliest signs of hearing loss amongst both young adults and the elderly.
Turning Volume Up Too High
Turning the volume up when listening to podcasts or music because you can’t hear clearly enough can be another sign that you are suffering from early hearing loss. Not only is this an indication of hearing loss, but without further intervention and evaluation from an audiologist, your hearing loss could worsen over time without proper help.
Ways to Help Preserve Your Hearing with Age:
Wear properly fitted hearing aids
Wearing hearing aids can help since they are designed to mitigate hearing loss. Hearing aids are customised to allow people with hearing loss to better understand and follow conversations in both noisy and quiet environments, while also allowing them to enjoy music and television again.
Practice Good Ear Hygiene
Good ear hygiene involves taking precautions like wearing ear protection when in loud environments and getting your ears professionally cleaned if you notice a buildup of earwax in the canal.
Never use sharp objects such as a paper clip or bobby pin to clean your ears, as they can injure the delicate skin of the ear canal. Using a warm washcloth or an ear-cleaning solution can also help to clean your ears, as long as you are gentle, but do use these solutions with caution.
Eating A Healthy Diet
A healthy diet rich in vitamins A, C, and zinc could improve your overall health and hearing too.
Vitamin A: Vitamin A is an essential nutrient for the proper functioning of your ears. It helps to maintain healthy skin, mucous membranes, and connective tissue in the ear. It also helps to protect your ears from damage caused by outside elements such as water damage.
Vitamin C: It helps to prevent the inner ear from getting damaged due to free radicals, noise, and infections. It also helps the body absorb other nutrients, such as zinc, which is important for preventing hearing loss.
Zinc: It is an important mineral that helps to maintain the functioning of your immune system and also plays a role in protecting the delicate structures of your ear from infection. It is also known to improve the production of ear wax, which helps to protect your ears from dust and other particles.
Takeaway
Though hearing loss is inevitable for many adults as they age, there are some lifestyle habits that you can adopt to ensure that you preserve your hearing for as long as possible. Take note to keep the volumes on your earpiece low when listening to music or podcasts, and eating a balanced diet with fruits and vegetables are some small yet important steps to preserving your hearing.
For a holistic evaluation of your current hearing needs, it would be good to schedule an appointment with an audiologist. Go for a hearing test to detect any early signs of potential hearing loss and mitigate any hearing problems.
