In this episode 21 protocols
▶ 39:37 Earplugs Tools “So what can you do to protect your hearing if you're going to a loud concert like that? definitely wear earplugs. ... And let's say if it's 120 decibel at the concert you're using, then wear earplugs that provide at least 30 decibel of attenuation.” ▷ 39:43 Measure sound levels with a dB app Behaviors “You can even measure sound intensities if you want to be very quantitative about it because now you have a rough formula. You can get a dB app on your phone. It's free.” ▷ 40:30 Magnesium Threonate Supplements “Another thing that you can do is take magnesium before going to a loud concert. And this is because studies have shown that magnesium can protect against noise-induced hearing loss. What we now think is that magnesium threonate is most efficient in crossing the blood-brain barrier, so we think it's probably the best for hearing protection, but... that study is yet to be conducted.” ▷ 44:04 Healthy Diet Diet “really the best way is to have a healthy diet. And numerous studies have shown is that what we absorb through a healthy diet is better than supplementation.” ▷ 46:11 Magnesium-Rich Foods Diet “they include seeds and nuts and fish, especially salmon, and then green leafy veggies like spinach. They are all rich in magnesium” ▷ 59:15 Hearing Aids Tools “the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery really endorses two main interventions. One is amplification with a hearing aid for those who need it” ▷ 59:15 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Behaviors “the American Academy of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery really endorses two main interventions. One is amplification with a hearing aid for those who need it, and two is cognitive behavioral therapy.” ▷ 1:00:46 Manage tinnitus by redirecting attention Behaviors “if you have tinnitus to do everything you possibly can to try and distract yourself from it and then pursue proper treatment.” ▷ 1:00:57 Seek clinical evaluation for tinnitus Behaviors “Exactly and in fact that's what we recommend in the clinic as well and lots of people find it reassuring because we first have to do complete and thorough evaluation which includes examination of the ears, examination of the whole head and neck, hearing testing” ▷ 1:06:59 Follow safe sound exposure limits Behaviors “the safe rule of thumb is 80 decibel is safe for eight hours.” ▷ 1:07:11 Keep headphone volume low enough that others cannot hear it Behaviors “So then if anyone can hear what you are listening to, who's standing by you, it's too loud. So that's a good rule of thumb.” ▷ 1:10:49 Avoid repeated loud-noise exposures close together Behaviors “if you leave a concert and the next morning you notice that your ears feel like they're a little bit clout... or if you hear a little bit of ringing in your ears, that you need to be especially careful about getting another high threshold sound arriving at your ears because the vulnerability is there.” ▷ 1:13:46 Take out earplugs in normal environments if you have hyperacusis Behaviors “the first thing in terms of counseling them, we say, well, take out your earplugs. You have to get used to the normal listening environments.” ▷ 1:23:02 Communicate face-to-face and slowly with reduced background noise for people with hearing loss Behaviors “it's more important to face someone and speak slowly if they have hearing loss than speaking loudly. ... You really have to face them” ▷ 1:30:53 Earplugs for sleep Tools “One of the things that I've done in really in the last six months to try and improve my sleep and it's worked tremendously well is to use earplugs when I sleep. ... I've been using the wax earplugs” ▷ 1:32:22 Optimize the sleep environment for quiet, darkness, and cool temperature Behaviors “what studies have shown is that the ideal sleeping environment is what bears do when they hibernate. It's three things. It has to be quiet, dark, and cold.” ▷ 2:00:12 Avoid habitual use of pain medications and other drugs unless needed Behaviors “regular intake of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen increases the likelihood of developing hearing loss. And what is regular use? It's at least twice a week.” ▷ 2:04:26 Avoid heating or storing hot food in plastic Behaviors “You definitely don't want to put a food-containing plastic container into a microwave to heat it up because then even more plastic gets released.” ▷ 2:05:19 Avoid drinking from disposable plastic bottles Behaviors “I make it a point to avoid drinking out of disposable plastic bottles.” ▷ 2:07:57 Exercise during the day Behaviors “And we talked about good diet, lifestyle, exercise. If you exercise during the day, you'll sleep better.” ▷ 2:16:42 Engage in musical and auditory training Behaviors “And we as clinicians know that auditory training is very helpful.”