Health sabotage: 7 ways you’re harming your path to wellness
Stumble #7: Noise, noise, noise
Solution: turn it down (or off)
No one thinks about their hearing until they lose it, but today’s environment is increasingly full of loud noise, which contributes to hearing loss.
“We are constantly overstimulated by noise,” says clinical audiologist Wendy Framel of Children's Hospital Colorado. “So many people are on their personal devices, streaming music. Our ears get worn down over time, [and now] I’m seeing hearing loss at earlier ages and in younger people. If you are constantly listening to music for hours a day, that’s taking a toll and causing real damage.”
Make a point to turn off all sound whenever possible. And spend the extra $20 to upgrade your headphones for better sound quality at lower levels, she says, or get noise-canceling headphones. If you do experience hearing loss, new solutions include Bluetooth hearing aids that connect to your smartphone.