We’ve been looking forward to summer fun all year: trips to the beach, relaxing by the pool, and injured hearing? That’s right, summer holds a few unseen risks to your hearing, either from loud sounds or the environmental situations you may find yourself in. Any noises above 80 decibels could lead to harm to your ears, while enduring hearing loss can take hold in swimming pools or other bodies of water. To keep your hearing safeguarded this summer, you need to be mindful of your environment and take precautions. Read on to learn the summer’s six hidden dangers to your ears.
When You Travel to Concerts, Put on Ear Protection
Summer is concert time, but even if attend a venue, you still should attend to your ears. Live music can reach over 90 decibels, even at outdoor shows, which is within the danger zone of hearing loss. That’s the reason it’s definitely a smart plan to use earplugs regardless of whether you’re seeing a show indoors or outdoors. Earplugs dampen the sound while still allowing you to hear and enjoy the music. If you’re going to a concert with young children, think about getting them a heavy duty set of earmuffs since their ears are much more delicate than those of adults.
It’s More Than Just Loud at Fireworks
Honestly, there are a lot of reasons to avoid fireworks in the summer. We’re not talking about the skilled 4th of July displays, we mean the backyard fireworks which every summer cause hundreds of accidents. Home fireworks achieve volume levels of over 155 which can damage your ears as well as causing hand problems, blindness and home fires. This year, on the 4yh of July, appreciate the fireworks from a little further away and leave the fireworks to the professionals.
Hearing Loss Can be Caused by Lawnmowers
If you love to take care of your lawn, your edger, trimmer, and mower are your best friends. But have you ever noticed how off your ears feel after you finish, making everything sound muffled? That’s because the constant noise from your lawn tools have a slow and steady impact on your hearing. No doubt you’ve noticed landscapers wearing some type of hearing protection, next time you work on your yard with noisy power equipment, you need to take a cue from them and use earmuffs or earplugs.
Hears How to Safeguard Your Ears When You Take a Swim
Millions of people suffer from swimmer’s ear every summer, which occurs when bacteria-packed water gets stuck inside your ear canal. The bacteria then infects the ear, producing painful earaches and swelling. It’s not only lakes and rivers that contain these bacteria, they can also be found in pools and hot tubs if they aren’t cleaned and treated properly. No irreversible damage should occur if you get your hearing checked out by a hearing expert. To be safe, when your swimming in your pool, wear specialized swimmers earplugs and keep the chemical balance correct to lessen the likelihood of getting swimmers ear.
Boats and Other Water Sports
Summertime is a taste of freedom for those individuals who love to be out on the water, smelling the salt air of the ocean or the fresh breeze of the lake. But, jet ski and boat engines can be noisy,they can get up to over 100 decibels. Continual exposure to that kind of noise for a period of about 15 minutes can result in irreparable hearing damage. Once again, it’s probably in your best interests to use a set of disposable, foam earplugs while you’re out on the water to make sure you don’t inadvertently damage your ears.
Car Races Can Injure Your Hearing
It doesn’t matter what type of auto racing you like, midget, Formula 1, drag racing, motorcycle Formula 1. If you go to a lot of auto-races this summer, they all pose a danger. It’s estimated that sound levels can exceed 120 decibels at many races, which is absolutely in the danger zone for hearing impairment. As mentioned before, your children should wear muffs whereas you should wear earplugs at the very least. Otherwise, you may not be able to enjoy the sound of those engines as you get older.
