Can You Prevent Tinnitus?

You often hear people say that prevention is better than cure. Sometimes, it’s impossible to prevent hearing problems, but in some cases, you can reduce the possibility of developing issues such as tinnitus. Tinnitus is relatively common and it causes you to be able to hear noises within your ears that aren’t produced by an external outlet. If you’re on a mission to keep tinnitus at bay, here is some useful information to take on board.

Preventing tinnitus

The best way to reduce the risk of developing tinnitus is protecting your ears, especially in noisy environments. Exposure to high levels of noise can damage the fragile cells within the inner ear, contributing to hearing loss and elevating the risk of tinnitus. If you’re going to watch a band or a DJ, you don’t need to worry about the long-term effects of being in a loud arena or a club, but if you’re exposed to excessive levels of noise on a regular basis, it pays to adopt preventative measures. If you work in a stadium or a club, you work out on the roads using power tools or your job involves operating noisy machinery or heavy vehicles, for example, you should consider using ear defenders or ear plugs to protect your ears and lower the risk of hearing loss and tinnitus.

In this day and age, it’s very common to see people plugged into phones or mobile devices. Listening to music can be enjoyable, but make sure you’re listening at a level that is sympathetic to your ears. If you’re blasting tunes through headphones, there’s every chance that this will put you at risk of tinnitus and elevate the risk of losing your hearing. Set the volume at a low level. You can also reduce the chances of developing tinnitus by moving away from sources of loud noise, for example, standing ten paces back from the speaker at a festival.

Being aware of hearing loss

Many people who have tinnitus are shocked to hear that it is linked to hearing loss. Hearing loss can be very gradual and this sometimes makes it hard to recognize. If you’ve noticed that you’re turning the volume up slightly on your TV or car radio, or you’re asking people to repeat themselves more frequently during conversations, it’s a good idea to see your audiologist. Hearing loss is progressive and the sooner you seek advice, the better. Often, an audiologist will recommend using hearing aids in cases where tinnitus is linked to hearing loss. Hearing aids improve the ability to hear and enable you to hear external sounds, which nullify the noises caused by tinnitus. If you see an audiologist in the early stages of hearing loss, this can help to prevent tinnitus from getting worse.

They say that prevention is always better than cure. In the case of tinnitus, it’s not always possible to prevent symptoms, but you can maximize your chances of steering clear of tinnitus by protecting your ears and seeking advice from an audiologist if you do notice changes in your hearing or your tinnitus symptoms have become more severe.