It’s that time of year—if you’re a pigskin fan, you’re probably going to hit a few games now and again throughout the next few weeks. With the Super Bowl fast approaching, football games are a hotspot.
But when it comes to outdoor or partially outdoor games, are you taking the proper precautions to protect your hearing? Here are some tips.
One of the primary reason you might experience damage to your ears or hearing loss during football season is the high noise level of games. Stadiums are among the loudest settings you’ll likely encounter in your everyday life. That’s why taking precautions to protect your ears is so important. Your average earplugs or earmuffs will work wonders in keeping the high-intensity volume of screaming fans in enclosed places from causing permanent damage.
Football season happens to coincide with cold and flu season. And it’s a good rule of thumb that if you have come down with something, an outdoor football game is probably not the best idea. Pushing it with being under the weather can cause ear infections that can have both temporary and permanent damage to your hearing. Take precautions—if you’re feeling ill, sit one game out to recover and catch the next one!
If you’re hitting up some outdoor or open-air-arena football games, cold or rainy weather can be a factor in hearing damage or damage to your hearing aids. Pack some hats and scarves to keep your ears protected from inclement weather. And if you utilize assistive listening devices (ALDs), make sure you’re keeping them as dry as possible, too. Cold weather can cause shortened battery life, and moisture can permanently damage your devices.
Did you know that children are even more prone to hearing damage than adults? With smaller hearing canals, ears in children are more easily damaged in high-decibel settings than adult ears. That’s why keeping your kids protected with their own earmuffs and headbands are a good plan. If they start to hear ringing, it might be time for a bathroom or snack break to get away from the inside of the arena or stadium for a bit.