Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. There are no Affiliate Links Included in this post. All thoughts are my own and no other’s. This post is now in the guidelines of the FTC I am always looking for ways to improve my health, but one area that I am sometimes guilty of neglecting is my Hearing health. I think this is the case for most people and even though we might pay attention to our diet and our exercise routine so we can keep the rest of our body healthy, we don’t always think about our ears. This is a big problem because, if you don’t protect your hearing now, you are far more likely to develop hearing loss in later life.  I have put together this great list of simple ways that you can protect your hearing and improve your ear health so you can reduce the chances of losing your hearing as you get older.  Be Careful With Loud Noises  I enjoy listening to music as much as the next person, but it’s a good idea to turn the volume down if you want to protect your hearing. Exposure to loud noises is one of the most common causes of hearing loss, and the damage cannot be reversed once it is done. If you work in a loud environment, like a factory, for example, you should be wearing earplugs to protect your ears. When you are using headphones to listen to music, don’t blast it at full volume because this does a lot of damage. Try to keep the volume under 50 percent, if possible, and don’t listen for extended periods without a break.  See A Doctor Sooner Rather Than Later  I wouldn’t want to admit that I was losing my hearing because it means admitting that you’re getting older and your body is failing you. Most people feel this way, which is why hearing problems are often ignored. In a lot of cases, the change happens gradually, which means that you don’t always notice. However, it’s so important that you see a doctor sooner rather than later if you notice a problem with your hearing. Often, it’s the people around you that pick up on it first because you keep mishearing them or turning the TV up too loud. If somebody in your household tells you that you’ve got a hearing issue, you should listen to them.  When you do see a hearing doctor, they may tell you that you need to wear hearing aids. A lot of people don’t like this idea (I know I wouldn’t!) because they are worried about how they will look and they feel self conscious. The thing is, your hearing problems will get a lot worse if you don’t wear hearing aids, so you will just have to learn to live with them.  Stop Using Cotton Swabs  If you use cotton swabs to clean your ears out, you need to stop right away. I know that it seems like you are clearing the wax out of your ears and doing yourself some good, but that’s not the case. Wax is there for a reason and a bit of wax is a good thing. Your ears are self cleaning and the wax stops harmful particles from getting inside. But if you are poking around in there with cotton buds, you are removing a lot of the wax and increasing your chances of ear infections. You may also damage your eardrums by poking them with cotton buds, and that can lead to a lot of problems in the future as well. If you have a lot of excess wax around the edge of the ear, you can wipe it away with a damp cloth, but there is no need to put anything down the ear canal and if you do, you will only do more damage.  Keep Your Ears Dry  If you are a keen swimmer, you may have experienced ear infections  in the past. This is because excess moisture allows more bacteria to enter the ear canal. If you have ear infections on a regular basis, that can lead to long term hearing issues in the future, so you need to make sure that your ears are dry. I always towel dry my ears after a bath or a shower to get rid of excess water. If you swim a lot, you should invest in some swimmers earplugs to stop your ears from filling up with water. Custom fit ones are a bit more expensive but they do give you better protection.  I’m making an effort to protect my ear health and so should you. If you don’t, you will be far more likely to experience hearing loss as you get older, and it will have a big impact on your quality of life.   Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. There are no affiliate links included in this post. All thoughts are my own and no other’s. This post is now in the guidelines of the FTC