Hearing Aids and Fire Crackers
We are all being cautioned to stay home and stay safe during the Covid epidemic but Coronavirus may not be the biggest risk during Chinese New Year. Chinese New Year is a time for festivities; cooking, eating and drinking, and fireworks. All it takes is one firecracker to render you deaf, immediately. Celebrating the Chinese New Year safely with family and friends isn’t difficult, if you take precautions. We are all following SOPs by wearing a face mask, at the moment, and during Chinese New Year you and your loved ones could also wear ear plugs and a protective headset too. These Chinese New Year new normal will protect your hearing while you are celebrating.
Happy Chinese New Year
Fireworks are just wonderful, especially at Chinese New Year. Bright colours in the sky are exciting and inspiring, at a distance. “It’s the permanent hearing loss that we’re concerned about because it can’t be treated medically,” said American Academy of Audiology President Catherine Palmer. “It’s 100% preventable. So, let’s just be smart and prevent noise-induced hearing loss.” If you stand too close, just a couple of metres, to firecrackers this exposes your hearing to between 130 and 150 db of sound, the equivalent of standing next to a plane’s jet engine. If this happens then, initially, you might have a sense of fullness in your ears, ringing or roaring. This will subside with time. “But, you will be left with either some or a lot of hearing loss, just depending on your genetic makeup and how many times you’ve been exposed,” Palmer says.
EARS
Protecting your ears and eyes during Chinese New Year is easy. Foam earplugs can easily be inserted deeply while leaving enough room to grab hold to pluck them out, and headsets are also more appropriate for younger children. Palmer suggests following the acronym of E.A.R.S.:
- E — earplug
- A — avoiding noise
- R — reducing volume
- S — shortening time
We are all wearing face masks these days so why not protect the rest of your head too, just for a short time. People who lose their hearing often tend to self-isolate more and this can be unhealthy. Wearing a hearing aid will restore your hearing and your quality of life.
Free Hearing Test
If you, or your loved one, think you may have damaged your hearing during Chinese New Year festivities, don’t hesitate to get your hearing checked. Drop in to Clarisound for a free hearing test and consultation with one of our friendly, professional audiologists. We’ll check your hearing and let you know if you really do have hearing loss. Our audiologists can recommend a suitable hearing aid from a range of different styles and prices.
Stay safe! Happy Chinese New Year from everyone at Clarisound!