“Honey” where are we going for dinner tonight? The man continues to walk, not knowing that someone was talking to him. “Hey! I am talking to you! Are you deaf? Why are you ignoring me?” The next moment, he realizes that she has stomped off in anger as there wasn’t any form of reaction from him. The rest is history as you recapped yourself chasing after your girlfriend, coaxing and comforting her.

I believe this scenario is not new to many men out there. It’s not that you refused to listen to her. The real reason boils down to the fact that your hearing might be impaired without you realizing it. After a couple of consultations with the doctor, you discovered that the root cause might be due to the long hours of Ipod blasting and dancing next to mega huge speakers in clubs that resulted in the hearing loss of your right ear. Fortunately, the doctor explained that the hearing loss is only temporary as you discovered the problem early.

As people age, structures in the ear may become less elastic after undergoing changes that result in less responsiveness to sound waves. This is called presbycusis, where hearing loss is due to ageing. Hearing degenerates gradually as we age, the trick is to not accelerate this process prematurely. This hearing degeneration begins when you soon enter your early teen years and may start to be noticeable when you are over 50. According to the statistics provided on the National Institute On Deafness and Other Communication Disorders ( NIDCD ) website, men are more likely to experience hearing loss than women. 

Before you start to go into a panic stricken mode, here are 4 practical ways for you to protect your sense of sound against premature loss from noise and carelessness, the two killers that are responsible for most hearing losses.

#1 Exercise common sense and stay away from noise producing equipment. 

The most common danger to your hearing is noise. Noise consists of a mixture of sounds that are too loud or loud sounds that last over a long period of time. Prolong exposure to these noises, will definitely result in hearing impairment as there is high probability of the sensitive structures within our inner ear being damaged. This kind of loss is termed as noise-induced hearing loss. These noises are present in our surrounding environment such as construction sites, traffic, mechanical equipments, household appliances…etc

#2 Reduce the volume in your portable music players.

Before you decide to blast your Mp3 player, think again! The distance from the source of the sound is important as earphones are mere centimeters from your eardrums. Listening to loud music over time can cause hearing loss. Generally, the louder the sound, the lesser the time you should exposed yourself to it. Hearing damage occurs even after continuous listening to music at a reasonable volume.

#3 Use ear plugs if required.

Sounds of 75 decibels or less are unlikely to result in hearing loss. A normal conversation is roughly about 60 decibels, however in clubs the noise level can go up to as high as 110 decibels which is equivalent to an aero plane taking off.

If you are exposed to an environment where noises are prevalent, you may want to consider using ear plugs to reduce the stress caused on your ear drums.

#4 Protect your head.

Head injuries may also result in hearing loss. Impact trauma can affect in a fracture of the cochlea which is the auditory portion of the inner ear and is usually permanent. Protect your head at all cost!