May is Better Hearing Month! Better Hearing and Speech Month (BHSM) was founded in 1927, by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA).

It’s essential that everyone takes care of their ears and hearing, as damage to the auditory system could be irreparable. If you do have hearing loss, it’s important to preserve and protect your remaining hearing as communicating freely with others is vital.

As hearing loss generally occurs gradually, many people don’t notice the subtle decline until friends or family members point it out. And that’s ok! Our brains are very good at filling in the gaps through a combination of lipreading and knowing the context of the conversation, hence hearing loss often goes unnoticed.

Dr. Sowards appeared on Mass Appeal earlier this month to discuss Better Hearing Month and tips on how how to properly protect your ears.