Prevention

Here are steps you can take to help prevent hearing loss or lessen its severity:

• Protect your ears from loud noises. Either avoid loud noises or wear ear protection such as earplugs or earmuffs. Even covering your ears with your hands helps protect them.
• Keep the volume low when using earphones or car stereos. Noise is accentuated in enclosed spaces, such as a car.
• Educate your children about the danger of loud music and other noises.
• Get the proper immunizations for measles and other diseases and the proper medical treatments for infections for you and your children.
• Follow your doctor's advice for medical conditions that can cause hearing loss, such as high blood pressure and Ménière's disease.
• Avoid inapproriate use of medications that can cause hearing loss.
• Don't blow your nose too hard. It's better to gently blow one nostril at a time.
• Don't put cotton-tipped swabs, fingers or anything else into the outer ear canal.
• Get regular screening, particularly if you have a high-risk job or a high-risk hobby.
• See your doctor immediately if you have any sudden loss of hearing in one or both ears. This can mean a reaction to medication, a clot or tumor near the auditory nerve or a neurological problem.

More on Hearing Loss

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This article was reviewed and updated June 2007.