subject: Signs Of Hearing Loss: How To Know If You're At Risk [print this page] Being able to pinpoint the moment that hearing goes downhill is a difficult proposition for anyone. After all, it's not as though suddenly one wakes up and cannot hear anything; it's more of a gradual effort. Perhaps the television needs to be cranked up a couple of bars to be able to hear well; maybe it's noticing that people are getting irritated with the amount you have to ask them to repeat themselves when hanging out in crowded restaurants. The trouble is that many of these indicators aren't going to be helpful unless they are realized early on, and because of this, sometimes hearing loss slips through the cracks for years before being properly recognized.
The good news is that it's easy to figure out what's happening with one's ears simply by being more observant. Paying attention to the small signs that mean potential hearing loss allows those who might be in harm's way to figure out the best ways to diminish potential risks and ensure that ears work perfectly for much longer.
One telltale way to figure out if you're particularly at risk for hearing loss is to assess job and living situations. Those who are working in a quiet desk job somewhere in a small town or out in the country are far less at risk for potential trouble further down the line. Anyone who is working construction in the middle of a loud metropolitan area with consistent background noise should think seriously about taking protective measures. And it's not just those people who are working in loud areas who need to take care in cities; with countless commuters blasting music right into their ear canals via MP3 players, desk jockeys in big cities might be doing a number on their own hearing, too.
Aside from location and vocation, hobbies are another simple way to figure out if you are putting your ears in harm's way. Those who enjoy sitting quietly, meditating, or strumming acoustic guitars aren't going to be as likely to be doing damage. But big-time clubbers, or anyone who goes out more than four nights a week and spends time dancing next to large speakers, is definitely doing a bit of damage for their ears. For clubbers who love to dance, wearing earplugs is a crucial way to offset the potential damage that the pleasure from the bass might be causing. The same is true for anyone who plays amplified instruments on a regular basis, or who loves loud rock shows.
Sometimes it might not even be factors of lifestyle, but rather, one's own propensity to encounter hearing damage earlier on. For these people, being one step ahead of one's body is key. Be sure to pay close attention to whether or not you find yourself turning up the volume on car radios or television sets over time, if there's a lot of difficulty focusing on one person's voice in a crowd, or any other telltale signs that there may be hearing loss in effect. By staying one step away, it's possible to take the right steps to preserve one's ears for a bit longer.
