A top ten list for hearing health

10. If you need to raise your voice so that a person within arm's reach can hear you, the background noise is loud enough to threaten your hearing.
9. Loudness of sound is one culprit that harms hearing, but equally important is the duration of the sound. Loud and long? Oh my.
8. Want to know the loudness (decibel level) of everyday sounds and a safe period of exposure to those sounds? See our "How Loud is too loud?" poster.
7. Special earplugs for musicians can provide protection for hearing while maintaining the frequency balance of music.
6. Use a few simple steps for reducing the max volume on your iPhone: Settings  > Sounds & Haptics > tap Headphone Safety from the top > Reduce Loud Sounds > Set the sound slider to 75-100 decibels.
5. Special earmuffs for hunters let you hear sounds in your environment and only block out sound when a loud noise (such as a gunshot) occurs.
4. Earplugs are an inexpensive and comfortable way to protect your hearing during daily household chores, such as vacuuming or mowing the lawn. There are many styles and materials available.
3. Our audiology clinicians can provide hearing consultations, screenings, evaluations, and protection device fittings for a variety of needs. 
2. Know just how loud (and sometimes surprisingly so) environments can be: school cafeterias, athletic arenas, shops using power tools, music concerts, firing ranges, indoor swimming pool, food blenders, dental drills, hair blowdryers. 
1. UI SAFE (University of Iowa Sound Awareness For Everyone) is a faculty-student educational effort in CSD which promotes healthy hearing. The team’s main focus is awareness. UI SAFE gets their message out by presenting to school classrooms and music programs, marching in the Homecoming parade, hosting information tables at the Campus Wellness Center and at health fairs, and broadcasting preventative hearing care on social media.


A former UI SAFE member, Kevin Kock, developed HawkEars, Tiger Hawk-branded earmuffs and earplugs that not only protect hearing, but show Iowa spirit. HawkEars are sold in the Wendell Johnson Clinic and at the Stead Family Children's Hospital. 

Read more about UI SAFE on CSD's Outreach and Public Engagement page.