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Many people don’t realize how many ways exercise can help them. Your health is connected, so when you take care of one part of it, it can also help other parts. For example, regular exercise helps you keep a healthy weight and builds strong muscles, and it also keeps and protects most other parts of your health. Regular exercise has also been shown to keep your mind sharper, help you sleep better, improve your mood, and lower your risk of hearing loss. It also lowers your risk of hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes.
How exercise can cause hearing loss
Exercise may make sense to lower the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure, but how does it reduce the risk of hearing loss?
To understand this, knowing what happens to the body when you work out is essential. Your muscles get stronger when you work out regularly, and so does your heart. A stronger heart can pump more blood with less work, so the force on your arteries goes down, and your blood pressure goes down.
Hypertension, another name for high blood pressure, hurts your blood vessels. Your ears have blood vessels, just like the rest of your body. For the inner parts of your ears to stay healthy, you need a steady flow of oxygen-rich blood. If the blood doesn’t get to the inner ear well, it can hurt the tiny hair-like cells that send sound information to the brain. This can hurt your hearing for good.
Research on hearing loss and working out
In 2016, a study was done by the Journal of Neuroscience to look into the link between hearing loss and exercise. They looked at the hearing of both active and inactive mice and found that the structures of the inactive mice’s ears were changed incorrectly. Fewer nerve cells that send sound to the brain were in the mice that didn’t move around much. On the other hand, the mice that were active had healthy hearing 95% of the time.
The Johns Hopkins University did a similar study with people as subjects. They found that, on average, seniors who worked out regularly also had better hearing. Seniors who did light to moderate exercise for just three hours a week did much better on hearing tests than those who didn’t exercise. But just 30 minutes of exercise a day made a big difference in the health of the ears.
Taking care of your hearing
There are, of course, many things that can hurt your hearing. For example, you may live a very active life but don’t wear hearing protection in loud places that could hurt your ears. You may have gotten a blow to the head at some point, which can cause damage. By taking care of your ears, you can ensure that your hearing will be good for a long time.
Use earphones responsibly. Music has been shown to motivate people during an exercise routine and improve their performance. But if you work out while listening to headphones, it’s essential to do so safely. Headphones can quickly reach dangerous levels, so keep the volume at no more than 60% of its maximum. It can also be helpful to take breaks from listening since it’s not just the loudness of the sound that can hurt you but also how long you’re exposed to it.
Take care at the gym. If you go to a noisy gym to work out, you should know how loud it is, especially if you go every day. There are many apps for Smartphones that can be used to find out the decibel level. If your gym’s decibel level is above 85dB, you should wear earplugs to lower it. With earplugs, the decibel level you are exposed to could go down by 15–33dB.
Protect your head. Head injuries are a significant cause of hearing loss, which many people who play high-impact sports like football suffer from. If you move around while working out like when you skate or ride a bike, it’s a good idea to wear a helmet. A helmet protects you not only from getting hurt in the head but also from losing your hearing.
Treating hearing loss
If you just started exercising to care for your health, you probably feel better and more motivated because your mood and energy are up. If you think you might be losing your hearing, you should get help as soon as possible. Schedule a hearing test immediately so you can deal with your hearing loss and return to the active life you love.