Home Care in Southwest Ranches FL
Once your parent reaches the age of 75 they have approximately a 50 percent chance of suffering some level of hearing loss. The instance of this loss increases the older that your parent gets. This does not mean, however, that hearing loss is an inevitable part of aging or that there is nothing that your loved one can do to avoid the impact of this sensory change. By making simple changes to their lifestyle now, you can help your parent to maintain more of their hearing for longer, supporting a higher quality of life.
Use these tips to help you protect your aging parent’s hearing as they age in place:
- Avoid excessive noise. The leading cause of hearing loss is noise related. Constant exposure to loud noises can cause actual structural damage to the ear, diminishing its ability to relay sound messages to the brain. This does not have to be extremely loud sounds like construction work, though it can be. Instead, most noise-related hearing loss is linked to chronic exposure to sounds such as loud music played through a headphone or hobbies that include power tools or firearms. Eliminate this exposure or encourage your parent to protect themselves by wearing noise-cancelling headphones.
- Clean carefully. For the most part, your parent should not have to clean their ears. Ears have internal structural mechanisms to clean themselves through the use of wax and the jaw movements of talking and chewing. If there is skin, excess wax, or other issues that make it necessary to clean their ears, make sure that your parent does not put anything, including a cotton swab, into their ear canal. This can cause serious structural damage to the ear as well as making it more vulnerable to infection.
- Wear assistive devices regularly. While this does not actually prevent hearing loss, it does help to lessen the impact of the loss on your parent’s life. If your parent’s doctor prescribes a hearing device such as a hearing aid, it is important that your parent use it properly and consistently as directed. Hearing aids often take some time to get used to, but the more that your parent wears it, the more comfortable it will become, and the more accustomed to the change in the sound signals that they will be. This will help them to better utilize what they can hear through the devices to interact with the world around them.
A home care provider can be a valuable resource when it comes to protecting your parent’s hearing. This in home services provider can work with you to come up with a personalized course of care that helps to protect your parent’s hearing for improved quality of life. This course of care can include managing tasks and hobbies that could pose a threat to your parent’s hearing, reminders about using their assistive devices, and even guiding your parent in proper personal care to keep themselves healthy while protecting their hearing throughout their later years.
If you or a family member are in need of home care in Southwest Ranches, FL, call the caring professionals at Star Multi Care today at (954) 870-4770. Providing service in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Weston, Southwest Ranches, Pembroke Pines, Cooper City, Lighthouse Point, and Wilton Manors.
Sources:
https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/hearing-loss-older-adults
https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/age-related-hearing-loss
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