hearing care

For many people, hearing is something they take for granted. But imagine what it would be like if your hearing suddenly deteriorated and you eventually could no longer hear as well, or even hear anything at all?

Most people are unaware that hearing loss can affect anyone. This makes it all the more important to focus once again on the topic of "hearing care."

What does hearing care mean?

The term "prevention" generally refers to all measures that can help prevent diseases or stop them from getting worse. Hearing care therefore includes, for example, actions and strategies for the prevention, detection, and treatment of hearing problems. These include avoiding and protecting againstnoise, protecting against other external influences such as water or dirt, regular professional hearing tests to check hearing ability, education and advice, for example from counseling centers, doctors, and hearing care professionals, supportive measures such ashearing trainingor audio therapy, and, if necessary, medical treatment, surgery, etc.

Take hearing care seriously! Why is hearing care so important?

Our hearing is one of our most important sensory organs, as it enables us to communicate with other people, absorb information, for example from television or radio, warns us of dangerous situations, for example intraffic, by enabling us to hear warning signals and certain noises, and also allows us to appreciate the beauty of our surroundings, from birdsong to music.

In short: good hearing has a decisive influence on our overall quality of life. And that's why we should protect it.

Tips for hearing care: What you can do yourself

As already mentioned, hearing care encompasses various measures and strategies for the prevention and treatment of hearing problems. We would like to introduce a few of these below:

noise protection Ideally, you should avoid noise as much as possible. This includes, for example, loud machines or tools that are used regularly, engine noise, but also music or other noisy environments. If avoidance is not possible, you should wear suitablehearing protection, especially in the case of prolonged noise exposure.

Protection against external influences
In addition to noise, there are other external influences that can damage our hearing. These include, for example, water that can get into the ear when showering, swimming, diving, or participating in water sports, or dirt and dust, for example when working on a construction site. Various earplugs are suitable for protection against these factors.

Professional hearing tests
Older adults in particular should have regular hearing tests carried out by an ENT doctor or hearing care professional. Read more about hearing tests below.

Information and advice
Whether due to age or illness, hearing loss can affect anyone. That's why education is an important means of prevention. Only when you recognize hearing problems can they be treated. You can get advice from your doctor, a hearing aid acoustician, or at special advice centers. There is also a wealth of information on the subject available online, for example in the guide from faller audio.

Hearing training and audiotherapy
Professional hearing training and audiotherapy can help restore and gradually improve hearing ability after hearing impairment or hearing loss. Audiotherapy specialists can include ENT doctors, speech therapists, or hearing aid acousticians.

Medical help
As soon as you notice hearing impairment or even hearing loss, you should always seek medical advice. Ear, nose, and throat doctors are the right people to contact in this case. They can make a diagnosis, determine the causes of the hearing problems, and, in the course of this, determine the appropriate therapy.

How often should you have hearing tests for preventive care, and where?

Since hearing is one of our most important abilities, our hearing should be checked regularly. Even newborns have their hearing checked as part of the U1 examination 24 to 48 hours after birth. This hearing test is also known as newborn screening. If a child shows abnormalities in this test, another test usually follows a few days or weeks later.

Regular hearing tests every few years are recommended for infants and children. However, as soon as you notice that your child has problems hearing or understanding, often asks questions, or shows abnormalities in language development, you should have a hearing test or examination by an ENT doctor.

Regular hearing tests every 5 to 10 years are recommended for healthy adults. However, as the risk ofage-related hearing lossincreases with age, adults over the age of 50 should have a professional hearing test every year so that hearing loss can be detected early and treated if necessary.

As soon as you notice hearing problems, such asdifficulty hearing in noisy environments, hearing loss, or reduced hearing, you should not wait but have a hearing test done immediately.

Hearing aid users should also regularly check whether their hearing aids are still optimally adjusted to their needs, i.e., to their hearing ability, or whether they need to be adjusted.

If you would like to get an initial impression of your hearing ability, you can nowdoso with ourfree online hearing test.

Focus on hearing care: World Hearing Day

Hard to believe, but true: more than 1 billion people worldwide are affected by hearing loss. And although virtually everyone could develop hearing problems at some point in their lives, the topic of hearing care is still far from being widely recognized by the general public.

To change this, in 2007 the World Health Organization launched the first"WorldHearing Day," which is celebrated every year on March 3.

This is a day of action dedicated to education and counseling, offering those affected, their families, and interested parties a wide range of information, lectures, and online resources on the topics of hearing loss and hearing impairment, as well as their prevention and treatment.