Here we are, back to school already. What happened to summer? Same thing as last year, it flew by in a flurry of beach fun, concerts in the park and lots of yard work.

One thing is for sure, you have a long list of B2S supplies and paperwork for the erstwhile students before they head back to the hallowed halls of education.

Between the vaccinations and exams for athletics, have you considered a comprehensive hearing test? A good check by an audiologist can tell you if there is any compromise in your child’s hearing. Our lives are filled with so much noise and with the
introduction to ear buds on electronic devices, our youth are experiencing hearing loss earlier than their parents did at their age.

The latest study on Millenials confirms this:

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) estimates that “approximately 15 percent of Americans (26 million people) between the ages of 20 and 69 have high frequency hearing loss due to over exposure to noise at work or during leisure activities.”

Let’s get ahead of this for future generations. Get a hearing tune-up as part of the B2S routine, encourage the use of custom earplugs (they are quickly becoming fashion statements) and most of all, educate your kids about hearing loss.

One easy and fun way to engage your kids in being active participants in their hearing health is to add an app to their smartphone that shows decibel levels. Tell them to check the decibel levels at their activities and when it’s over 90, put in the ear plugs! It will surprise them how often the level is over 90Db.

Back to school time can be a crazy rush to get all the items checked off the B2S list, don’t let your student’s hearing health go unchecked, they need all their senses sharp for the new school year coming up.

Oh, and while you’re at it, when was the last time YOU had a hearing test? What? I thought so, get in there and get tested! You need your hearing health and protection at peak performance for all those school band concerts and soccer games.

Game on parents, game on.

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• The Microsonic Blog includes posts about custom earmold manufacturing and the hearing health industry.