4 Ways to Prevent Hearing Loss in the Elderly

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Medical Video: Best ways to cure Hearing loss Deafness

The older you are, you will experience a number of changes in the way your body functions. Hearing loss may be one of these changes. Hearing loss due to aging (presbycusis) is a common condition that affects more elderly adults.

Having hearing difficulties can make it difficult for you to understand and follow the doctor's advice, respond to alert warnings, and hear the sounds of the telephone, doorbell, and alarm. Hearing loss can also make it difficult to enjoy talking with family and friends, which leads to feelings of isolation.

Age-related hearing loss most often occurs in both ears, affecting both in the same way. Because this disorder occurs gradually, if you have a business, you may not realize that you have lost some listening skills. There are many causes associated with hearing loss due to aging. Most commonly, this arises from noise and changes in the inner ear that follow age, but can also be a result of changes in the middle ear, or from complex changes along the nerve pathway from the ear to the brain. Certain medical conditions and medications may also play a role.

Prebiscus cannot be cured, because this condition is caused by degeneration of sensory cells, which occurs with age. However, hearing loss is actually an avoidable part of aging.

What should I do to avoid hearing loss?

At the moment, scientists don't know how to prevent age-related hearing loss. However, you can begin to protect yourself from the risk of hearing loss caused by sound by protecting your ears as early as possible.

1. Avoid noise

Limiting exposure to loud sounds is the best thing you can do to help prevent the onset of presbycusis. Even a short attack from loud voices can contribute to your condition. Loud music, especially from speakers, headphones, earphones; Other loud sound sources, such as firecrackers, engines or firearms, racing cars, sporting events, motorbikes, motorboats, should be avoided. Do not listen to music through headphones or earphones with maximum volume for a long time.

2. Use a protector

If you know you will be around loud noises for more than a few minutes, consider wearing protection.

How hard is sound classified as noisy? If you have to raise your voice to shout so that someone can hear it clearly 1-2 meters away, that noise can be a serious risk for your hearing. The potential damage from noise is caused by the loudness of the sound and the amount of time you are exposed to the sound. If you experience tinnitus or difficulty hearing after exposure to loud sounds, then you have been exposed to too much noise. You can prevent hearing loss by avoiding situations where there is excessive noise or by using ear plugs to protect your ears, if the situation does not allow you to go away.

The risk of hearing loss due to exposure to noise is especially high among factory workers and heavy industries, transport workers, military personnel, construction workers, miners, farmers, firefighters, police, musicians, and entertainment industry professionals. If you work at a high-risk job, discuss with your supervisor to ensure that your workplace has effective programs to protect the hearing of its workers, and whether they meet local or state regulations.

3. Routine check your hearing

Check your ears at an ENT doctor (ear, nose, throat) for a routine hearing test, or if a routine ENT examination is provided in your office facilities. Make sure you know your hearing test results, save the results, and track changes from year to year.

  • If earwax blockage is your problem, ask your doctor about ear care that you can do at home such as mineral oil, baby oil, glycerin, neti pot irrigation, or commercial ear drops to soften earwax.
  • If hearing loss is caused by a hole in the eardrum, you should consult with your doctor before using ear cleaning products. Holes in the eardrum can cause hearing loss and discharge.
  • Otitis media ear infections are most common in children, but adults can get them too. You can help prevent upper respiratory infections - and ear infections that usually follow - by washing your hands frequently.
  • Ask your doctor about how to help prevent ear infections associated with flu. If you still complain of ear infections, consult a doctor immediately before developing more serious.
  • If you are taking drugs, ask your doctor if your medication is ototoxic, or potentially damaging to the ear. Also ask if other drugs can be used as a substitute. If not, ask if the dose can be reduced - although sometimes it can't. However, your doctor will help you get the medication you need when trying to reduce unwanted side effects.

4. Set a healthy diet: a diet low in saturated fat and calories

Many epidemiological studies throughout the world have shown a link between the incidence of coronary heart disease and blood cholesterol levels tend to be high, and saturated fat intake is also usually high. Based on this hypothesis, Rosen and the research team in a study published by the Acta Oto-Laryngologica journal tested two populations aged 40-59 years, in two mental hospitals for a period of 5 years in Finland. One hospital (A) is given a saturated fat diet and a high polyunsaturated fat diet for a second hospital (B).

At the end of the test period, the incidence of coronary heart disease decreased significantly in the last hospital. Hearing loss also improves significantly at all frequencies. At the end of the 5 year period the diets in two hospitals were exchanged. Four years after diet exchange, as well as the results: the quality of hearing in hospital A (which was a high-fat diet) had improved, and the quality at hospital B actually worsened. The incidence of coronary heart disease follows the same pattern. Finnish researchers concluded that an important factor in preventing coronary heart disease is probably a diet low in saturated fat. Someya's findings suggest that the same diet might play a role in delaying, or not even canceling, hearing loss.

Quoted from a Cell published study by Shinichi Someya et al, a diet that limits the number of calories is also found to extend the life span and range of body health, and delay the development of various age-related diseases such as cancer, diabetes, cataracts, and aging related hearing disorders (prebiscussion ) - general age-related disorders caused by oxidative stress. A large body of scientific evidence shows that low-calorie diets, especially if you have diabetes, reduce oxidative damage to protein, lipids, and age-related DNA through reducing oxidative damage to these macromolecules and / or increasing antioxidant defenses against oxidative stress.

When should I see a doctor regarding hearing loss?

Hearing loss must be checked as soon as possible. This helps get rid of other causes, such as buildup of earwax or side effects of drugs. Your doctor must make sure you get a hearing test.

Contact your healthcare provider immediately if you have a sudden change in hearing or hearing loss with other symptoms, such as:

  • Headache
  • Changes in vision
  • Dizzy

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4 Ways to Prevent Hearing Loss in the Elderly
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