We’ve been getting excited about summer activities all year: swimming in the pool, visiting the beach, and some activities that may damage your hearing. That’s correct, summer holds many unseen hazards to your hearing, either from loud sounds or the external situations you could find yourself in. Any noises over 80 decibels can harm your hearing, while lasting hearing loss can take hold in swimming pools or other bodies of water. You need to take precautions and be aware of your environment so that you can keep your hearing safe this summer season. Keep on reading to identify the summer’s 6 hidden dangers to your ears.
At Concerts, Use Hearing Protection
Whether you’re at an indoor venue or an outdoor show venue you still should use hearing protection during concerts. 90 decibels is in the danger zone for hearing injury and concerts reach this level even at outdoor shows. That’s why it’s always a smart strategy to wear earplugs regardless of whether you’re going to a show outdoors or indoors. You can still hear the tunes with earplugs in it’s just dampened a little. If you’re going to a show with young children, consider buying them a heavy duty pair of earmuffs since their hearing is much more delicate than those of adults.
Fireworks Can Damage Your Ears
Honestly, there are a lot of reasons to avoid fireworks in the summer. This is not about the specialized 4th of July fireworks show, we mean the backyard fireworks which every summer cause hundreds of incidents. In addition to causing hand injuries, blindness, and home fires, personal fireworks can also result in serious harm to your ears since they’re known to reach decibel levels of 155. This year, on the 4th of July, enjoy the fireworks from a little further away and leave the fireworks to the professionals.
Lawnmowers Can Cause Hearing Loss
If you care about your lawn, your edger, trimmer, and mower are your best friends. But have you ever noticed how off your ears feel after you get done, how everything sounds muffled or your ears are ringing? That’s because the constant noise from your lawn tools impact your hearing over time. If you’ve ever observed landscapers, you most likely have noticed them using ear protection, you should take a hint from them and use earplugs or earmuffs next time you work on your lawn to ensure your hearing doesn’t get injured.
Pools And Beaches, What You Should do to Protect Your Hearing
Huge numbers of people suffer from swimmer’s ear each summer, which happens when the ear canal traps water that is high in bacteria. The bacteria then infects the ear, leading to painful earaches and swelling. It’s not just rivers and lakes that have these bacteria, they can also be found in pools and hot tubs if they are not cleaned and treated correctly. As long as you have your ears treated by a hearing professional you should be ok, and no irreversible loss of hearing will occur. To be safe, when your swimming in your pool, use specialized swimmers earplugs and keep the chemical balance precise to lessen the likelihood of getting swimmers ear.
Water Sports And Boats
Summer is a breath of freedom for those individuals who love to be in a boat on the water, taking in the fresh lake breeze or the salty air of the ocean. But, jet ski and boat engines can be noisy,we’re talking more than 100 decibels. Continuous subjection to that kind of noise for a period of around 15 minutes can bring about irreversible hearing impairment. Once again, it’s really a smart decision to wear a pair of throw away, foam earplugs when you’re out on the water to make sure you don’t unwittingly harm your hearing.
Car Races Can Harm Your Ears
It doesn’t make a difference what type of auto racing you like, motorcycle, midget, Formula 1, drag racing or stock cars. If you go to a lot of auto-races this year, they all pose a peril. 120 dB is well within the danger zone for hearing impairment and many races go way above this. Earplugs are your best bet at these races, while your children should probably wear the earmuffs which were mentioned earlier. If you don’t, you might not be able to enjoy the sound of those engines as you get older.