Health
Be well: Prevent hearing loss with these 6 expert tips
About 48 million Americans have some degree of hearing loss — and most of them wait several years before seeking help, according to the Hearing Loss Association of America, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Rockville, Maryland.
“Sound-induced hearing damage is irreversible and commonly associated with other hearing disorders, such as tinnitus,” said Steve Taddei, doctor of audiology at HearAdvisor, an online information resource for people in need of hearing aids.
“Fortunately, this type of hearing loss is almost completely preventable with a little education and minor effort,” the Illinois-based Taddei told Fox News Digital.
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Here, he shares some safe listening practices to help prevent and reduce hearing loss.
1. Get a hearing check
To establish a baseline of your current auditory health, scheduling a hearing check with an audiologist who specializes in hearing conservation is a good idea, said Taddei.
During the evaluation, the audiologist will perform a variety of tests to determine the type and extent of hearing loss — and to measure your ability to hear various pitches, sounds and frequencies, according to Mayfield Clinic’s website.
2. Fight the urge to turn up the volume
Excessive volume from earbuds, headphones and other sound systems will eventually damage the ears, warned Taddei.
“Following the 60/60 rule is a practical guideline to safe listening levels,” he said. “Listen at no greater than 60% of the maximum volume for no more than 60 minutes per day.”
3. Use headphones or earbuds with good noise reduction
Headphones or earbuds help to minimize background sounds, allowing you to listen at lower levels without having to compete with environmental noise, said Taddei.
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“This can be in the form of passive noise reduction, where the earbud or headphone earpads physically block sound from entering your ear,” he explained.
“Some devices also offer active noise reduction, which can help with lower-frequency sounds.”
4. Give your ears a rest
If you are in a loud environment, limit how long you are there and/or move to a quieter space if possible, Taddei recommended.
“Taking listening breaks every hour or so can prevent fatigue by providing the ears with valuable time to recover,” he said.
“This can be as simple as taking a short walk, reading in silence or heading to the lobby during a crowded intermission to escape the chatter.”
5. Be more aware of sound exposures
A simple way to monitor your exposure is to install a sound level meter app on your phone. Taddei suggests using the NIOSH Sound Level Meter app.
“The Apple Watch is a great tool for this, as it automatically warns you when the environment is loud,” he said.
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“Apple also offers the Health app, which estimates headphone audio levels providing weekly breakdowns and average listening levels,” he added.
6. Invest in a pair of quality earplugs
Wearing earplugs when you’re exposed to loud sounds — such as at concerts or races; or from firearms or power tools — will help protect your hearing.
Even seemingly harmless daily activities, such as mowing the lawn and going to the movies, can fatigue the ears, Taddei warned.
“Quality earplugs are not expensive, though it can be difficult to differentiate good from bad,” he said.
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HearingTracker.com provides reviews of many of the most common earplugs.
Store your earplugs in a keychain carrying case that is connected to your car keys so you’ll always have easy access to them, Taddei said.
“While this may seem excessive, sound is unpredictable, and it is the only way to ensure your earplugs aren’t forgotten on the nightstand,” he said.
To read more pieces in Fox News Digital’s “Be Well” series, click here.
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Health
Ivanka Trump stays fit with this self-defense practice: ‘Moving meditation’
Ivanka Trump, the daughter of incoming President Donald Trump, has been known to lead an active life.
As the mother of three kids and a lover of outdoor sports, the 43-year-old is always on the move, recently adding jiu-jitsu to her mix of physical activity.
In a recent appearance on The Skinny Confidential Him & Her podcast, Trump shared how her daughter, Arabella, expressed interest in learning self-defense when she was 11.
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“I’m just so in awe of [her],” Trump said about her daughter. “She came to me and said, ‘As a woman, I feel like I need to know how to defend myself, and I don’t have a confidence level yet that I can do that.’”
Trump responded, “At 11 … I was not thinking about how to physically defend myself, and I thought it was the coolest thing.”
After researching self-defense options, Trump enrolled Arabella, now 13, in jiu-jitsu (martial arts) classes with the Valente Brothers in Miami, Florida – and soon the whole family joined in.
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“[Arabella] started asking me to join – I joined,” she said. “Then my two sons wanted to do what their older sister was doing. Then my husband joined … It is good for everyone.”
“It’s almost like a moving meditation.”
Trump, who is now a blue belt in jiu-jitsu, described that she likes how the sport “meshes physical movement.”
“It’s almost like a moving meditation because the movements are so micro,” she said. “It’s like three-dimensional chess.”
“There’s like a real spiritualism to it … The grounding in sort of samurai tradition and culture and wisdom.”
During President Trump’s first term in the White House, Ivanka Trump noted that she had very little focus on fitness, only taking weekly runs with husband Jared Kushner and “chasing the kids around the house.”
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Trump shared that she was “never a gym person,” but always loved sports, which still holds true today.
She said she enjoys skiing, surfing and racquet sports like padel tennis (a hybrid of tennis and squash) and pickle ball, which she described as “fun and social.”
‘Elevating awareness’
On the podcast, Trump said she was drawn to jiu-jitsu because it combines physical fitness and philosophy.
It also focuses more on how to extract yourself from a dangerous situation before having to harm someone who’s a threat, she noted.
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“Having these skills makes you less likely to get into a fight, not more likely to,” Trump went on.
“Once you have the confidence that you can sort of move out of a situation, there’s a real focus on elevating awareness.”
In a previous interview with Fox News Digital, Rener Gracie, head instructor of jiu-jitsu at Gracie University in California, stressed that the only truly reliable skills are those that have been “mastered into muscle memory.”
This occurs through extensively practicing self-defense methods like Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which are “leverage-based and don’t rely on you having a physical advantage over the subject,” he noted.
“Having these skills makes you less likely to get into a fight, not more likely to.”
“And by that, I mean strength, speed, power and size — because in almost every case, the attacker is going to target someone who they feel is physically inferior to them.”
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Gracie, whose family created Brazilian jiu-jitsu and the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), shared that jiu-jitsu is “highly sought after” because it only takes weeks or months for someone to “develop the core skills that could keep them safe in a violent physical encounter.”
‘Transformative’ strength training
In addition to mastering self-defense skills, Ivanka Trump recently revealed a shift in her fitness routine to include weightlifting and resistance training.
On Instagram, Trump posted a video displaying different exercises with various equipment in the gym, noting in the caption that she used to focus primarily on cardio, yoga and Pilates.
“Since moving to Miami, I have shifted my focus to weightlifting and resistance training, and it has been transformative in helping me build muscle and shift my body composition in ways I hadn’t imagined,” she wrote.
“I believe in a strength training approach built on foundational, time-tested and simple movements – squats, deadlifts, hinges, pushes and pulls. These are the cornerstones of my workout, emphasizing functional strength for life.”
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Trump added that prioritizing form is “essential” to ensure results before adding on weight.
“This ensures a safe and steady progression while maintaining the integrity of each movement,” she continued. “I incorporate mobility work within my sessions to enhance range of motion.”
“Weightlifting has enhanced not just my strength but my overall athleticism and resilience,” she added.
Trump said she dedicates three to four days a week to strength training, including two solo sessions and two with a personal trainer.
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She also said that increasing her protein intake has also been “critical” to her progress.
“I now consume between 30 and 50 grams of protein a meal,” she said. “It works … I’ve never been stronger!”
Trump also still enjoys weekly yoga sessions, spending time outdoors with her children and playing sports with friends, she said.
“I also incorporate a couple of short (10-minute), high-intensity interval training sessions (such as sprints) each week to keep my cardiovascular fitness sharp and dynamic,” she noted.
“This balanced approach has infused new energy into my fitness routine and yielded great results.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Ivanka Trump for comment.
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