Even if you live alone in the country, you’re still surrounded by noise levels that, over time, can contribute to hearing loss. Now, you don’t think of your home as a hearing danger zone but it has the potential.
A lawn mower can put out between 90- 100 dBs of sound. That’s more than enough to cause temporary hearing loss after as little as 15 minutes if at the upper level. Are you wearing ear protection?
Other garage-based dangers to hearing: chainsaw, weed whacker, snow blower, circular saw, leaf blower, electric generator, gas-powered tiller, hammering, drills and other tools.
Inside the house, you run the vacuum, which is capable of pumping out between 80-90 dBs. If you have kids, well, the in-house sound levels increase exponentially with cell phone ringers, the TV blaring in three rooms (all with different shows), the baby crying, and the teen band practicing for the upcoming prom in the garage. Then there’s the blender, the food processor and coffee grinder. Electric mixer, music that follows you from room to room electronically (smart house owners take note).
No ,are these noise sources enough to cause hearing loss alone? Not likely; however, repeated exposure can become cumulative and collectively together they have the potential to wear and tear on your hearing.
You don’t have to wear hearing protection every minute of every day and every time you are exposed to noise, but you can turn down the sound throughout the house.
Some ways to reduced the potential for cumulative noise exposure?
- If running multiple household tools and machines in one day, keep your earplugs handy and insert while doing the activities. They can be easily removed once you have completed vacuuming or snow blowing.
- Turn down the MP3 player. Turn off the MP3 player. Listening to your favorite tunes via earbuds is not just a teenager trend, many adults are plugged in while doing tasks around the house or taking their morning jog. Give your ears a break from time to time and turn the volume level down.
- Consider wearing noise-canceling headphones while listening to your MP3 and favorite tunes. This will reduce the likelihood of you turning the volume up while running noisy household equipment.
- Finally, take advantage of quiet time. It’s rare in any busy home.
Increase your awareness of noise. Outside, inside, at work, at a party, when fireworks are set off – wherever you live, be aware of the sounds around you. And be aware of the danger of the cumulative effect of loud noise on hearing.
Keep you and your family hearing healthy by turning down the volume, unplugging the machinery and wearing hearing protection whenever you’re exposed to loud noise at home.
And if your house is like most, that’s every day!
To learn more about everyday noise exposures at home and how to protect you and your family, visit: Protecting Yourself from Hearing Loss: It Starts at Home
