SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It’s the morning after the Fourth of July holiday and you might have woke up with your ears ringing.
You’re not alone. A ringing sound in your ears means your nerve is misbehaving. That happens when you are exposed to a very loud sound, like fireworks.
Don't worry too much about the ringing itself. What you need to pay attention to is how long that ringing lasts.
It all depends on the health of your hearing. If its in good shape, the ringing should stop within a week. If it lasts longer than two weeks, you need to see a doctor.
Preservation is key when it comes to hearing health. Annual hearing checks are mainly for children, though. Once you reach adult age its up to you to monitor any changes.
According to Sutter Health Dr. Johnathan Young, the signs of hearing loss are especially obvious when you are changing your behavior. When figuring out if your hearing is healthy, it's good to look at what you're not having to do to hear others.
“You’re not needing to lean into conversations, lean into other people or really kind of turn one specific ear to a person because maybe the other ear is not functioning well," Dr. Young said.
Dr. Young added that people should move quickly to figure out the problem once those signs arise.
"If those are signs that you’re experiencing hearing loss then it would be very prudent to bring it up with your primary care physician so they could at least run a quick battery of tests to see what needs to be done and determine if more needs to be done,” Dr. Young said.
Dr. Young said hearing is easily taken for granted with things like Bluetooth speakers and headphones, but once it goes out, your perception and participation in the world can changed in a big way.
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