Why is Hearing Protection Important When Doing Yard Work?

This year, while you go about your yearly rituals, keep your ears open. Here are some things you can do to protect your hearing while doing yard work and other outdoor activities!

Use Earplugs

Earplugs prevent hearing loss by preventing sound from penetrating the ear canal and damaging the auditory hair cells. When functioning properly, these hairs transform sound waves into electrical signals that are then processed by the brain to form the perception of sound. Inadvertently bending or breaking these hairs from exposure to loud sounds might cause permanent hearing loss.

Protect your ears from noise and avoid injury by using earplugs. When doing yard work with loud machineries like a leaf blower, chainsaw or lawn mower, it’s important to protect your hearing by inserting earplugs.

This may seem pointless if your hearing is already impaired. After all, it’s easy to convince yourself that you don’t need to protect your hearing if you don’t experience loud noises at the same intensity as those around you. Earplugs are still recommended because, despite your best efforts, the delicate hairs in your ears might break, kink and become permanently damaged.

Know that earbuds and headphones do not offer the same level of protection as earplugs when listening to music. The lawnmower’s rev may be drowned out temporarily, but you’re still directing loud sounds into your ears by wearing headphones. You may also need to crank up the volume on your stereo system to drown out the hum of the lawnmower. This can cause damage to your ears, so please use caution and safeguard your hearing.

Pace Yourself

Take a break from your noisy work every fifteen minutes. Do something to rest your ears and body, whether that’s sitting down and drinking a glass of water or switching to quieter activities like watering the garden or cleaning the gutters.

Additionally, your yard maintenance doesn’t need to be finished in a single weekend. To spread out your workload, spread out your duties over a longer period of time, and give yourself a minimum of 18 hours between louder tasks. For instance, you may mow the lawn and rake the leaves on a Saturday, but not utilize the weed whacker until Sunday morning or the chainsaw to remove the dead tree branches until the following weekend.

Make Sure You Know When it is Safe to Wear Your Hearing Aids

Hearing aids should not be worn when performing certain activities, particularly those that take place outdoors. You probably already know not to wear your hearing aids if you need to wear earplugs for whatever reason. However, bear in mind that hearing aids are susceptible to harm from dust and moisture, just like any other fragile electronic item. It’s best to remove your hearing aids and put them somewhere safe before doing any task that can cause you to perspire heavily or kick up a lot of debris.

But put them back on when you’re taking a break or moving on to something less noisy and sweaty. Even though it’s vital to sometimes store and protect your hearing aids, it’s also crucial to wear them when safely possible since they let you stay connected to the world around you.

Go See an Audiologist

Noise-induced hearing loss is more likely to occur if you frequently engage in noisy activities like yardwork or work in extremely noisy locations. Visit your audiologist regularly to maintain good ear health, whether you’re experiencing hearing loss or just want to be sure it doesn’t get any worse.