Spring Noise Risks: Hearing professional offers key tips to protect your health

Mar. 3, 2025, [Gillette, WY] — World Hearing Day marks a perfect time to adopt these easy habits for lifelong wellness.

From outdoor adventures to concerts and sports, springtime brings a host of exciting new sounds. Some of those sounds can be hazardously loud, especially when at or above 85 decibels, so how can you protect your hearing?

Local hearing care professional Dr. Kimberly Schaeffer of Hoskinson Health and Wellness Clinic offers key tips on safely enjoying all the sounds of the season.

As World Hearing Day touches down on March 3, it’s a great time to think about hearing health and take action for total wellness.

“Lawn mowers, power tools, music events, and fireworks often exceed safe noise levels,” says Dr. Schaeffer. “Repeated or prolonged exposure can lead to irreversible hearing loss if proper precautions aren’t taken.”

An estimated 1 in 20 people have trouble hearing due to excess noise exposure. It’s one of the most preventable causes of hearing loss, but prevalence may be on the rise, with people including youth at risk from recreational noise and other sources of loud sounds.

Many don’t realize that hearing loss from noise exposure can be immediate and permanent, making prevention all the more critical. With Dr. Schaeffer’s recommendations, safeguarding your hearing health is easier than you may think:

• Wear quality hearing protection

This can significantly reduce harmful noise exposure while still letting you experience the sounds you want to enjoy.

• Practice the 60/60 rule

Limit use of headphones and other personal listening devices to a maximum 60 minutes daily at 60% or less of their highest volume.

• Keep a good distance

Create enough space between concert speakers and other sources of loud sounds, and take frequent listening breaks, both of which can help curb your risk.

• Stay informed

Use apps like the NIOSH Sound Level Meter, which doesn’t replace expert instruments or opinion but can help you approximate the decibel level for awareness and safety.

• Get a hearing check

This provides a baseline of your hearing health and helps identify potential problems early for quick intervention.

“Hearing loss affects more than communication — it’s linked to mental, physical, social, and even financial health,” Dr. Schaeffer explains. Taking steps now to help protect your hearing is an investment in a better spring season and a better future overall.”

About Us - Hoskinson Health and Wellness Clinic's full-service audiology clinic has been the Gillette’s community’s trusted provider since 2024.

Dr. Schaeffer has been in the hearing health care field for 25 years and has developed a hearing care practice in Gillette that has helped hundreds of patients with their hearing, and tinnitus. Hoskinson Health and Wellness Clinic offers to it's patients state-of-the-art diagnostic testing and expert fitting of hearing technology.