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Home » Is it Possible to Prevent Hearing Loss for Your Aging Adult?
You might think that there’s not much that you can do to help your senior to maintain her hearing, but it’s never too late. Taking even small steps now can do a lot more to protect your elderly family member’s hearing than you realize.
Get Her Hearing Tested
The very first thing to do when you want to protect your senior’s hearing is to get a baseline for her hearing as it is right now. Her doctor may be able to perform a hearing test in the office or may recommend a meeting with an audiologist. Either way, you know where you stand after getting those results.
Use Hearing Protection Whenever Possible
Hearing protection, whether in the form of earplugs or over-the-ear protection, keeps your senior’s sensitive ears from bearing the full brunt of any loud noises. If you know that she’s going to be exposed to louder than usual noises, hearing protection is a must. Different situations can call for slightly different ear protection. Soft plugs are easy to carry with you, just in case.
Avoid Extreme Noises, if Possible
Extremely loud noises can do a lot of damage to your elderly family member’s hearing, both in the short term and over the long term. If you can help her to avoid extreme noises, then that’s the best option. Otherwise, keep hearing protection available for her to put on as soon as possible.
Lower the Volume on Life
Part of developing hearing trouble is that your elderly family member may start to increase the volume on everything around her. If she’s still in the beginning stages of hearing loss, it might help to decrease as much noise as possible. Ambient noises that you can reduce can help her to hear more of what she wants to hear.
Take Steps Now
It’s never a good idea to wait to do even little things to protect your elderly family member’s hearing. Even if she’s got some hearing damage, you can still protect the hearing that she has left. There’s no such thing as wasted effort when it comes to helping her reduce damage to her ears. It only takes being a little prepared to make a difference.
If your elderly family member is already dealing with a good bit of hearing loss, having home care providers available can make life a bit easier for her. Home care aides can be her ears and alert her to situations she needs to know about.