National Protect Your Hearing Month Partner Advisory (October 2019)

This October, during National Protect Your Hearing Month, we are coming together to help increase the proportion of youth who lower their risk of noise-induced hearing loss by wearing hearing protection and avoiding loud noises.

At CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH), we are committed to educating young people about noise-induced hearing loss in order to help prevent it. Hearing loss from loud noise is permanent — and most people don’t notice their hearing is damaged until it’s too late.

You can make a difference! We’ve put together some tips and materials to help you spread the word. By sharing these messages on social media and beyond, you can help prevent noise-induced hearing loss during National Protect Your Hearing Month — and every month!

Share the facts

Use these talking points to communicate with young people about noise-related hearing loss:

• Over time, being around loud noise can make you lose your hearing
• Once you’ve lost your hearing, you can’t get it back
• 5 in 10 young people listen to their music or other audio too loudly, and 4 in 10 young people are exposed to potentially hazardous sound levels during events like concerts and sporting events

Share steps that everyone can take to prevent noise-induced hearing loss:

• Try to avoid loud noises — for example, by turning down the volume when using headphones, moving away from the speakers at a concert, or spending less time at a noisy restaurant
• Use hearing protection (like earplugs or hearing protection earmuffs) when you must be near loud noises
• Talk to your health care professional if you are worried about your hearing

To access our newly released video titled “Roll, Pull, and Hold. How to Wear Soft Foam Earplugs,” go to https://bit.ly/2mGBMA1external icon

Take steps to lower your risk of noise-induced hearing loss: turn the volume down when you listen to music, stay a safe distance away from loud noises, and wear hearing protection. Foam earplugs are an easy way to protect your hearing – follow these simple steps to use foam earplugs correctly (otherwise, they won”t work!).

To access our new animated GIF, go to https://bit.ly/2lJeKs0external icon

Share this message with your networks!

It’s National Protect Your Hearing Month! Using foam earplugs is an easy way to help prevent #HearingLoss when you’re around loud noises. Check out this video to learn more about how to protect your hearing: [https://bit.ly/2mGBMA1external icon] #NPYHM

Learn more about noise-induced hearing loss at https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/hearing_loss