NEW YORK — Age-related hearing loss, or presbycusis, is incredibly common, affecting about 13 per cent of adults in their 50s and over half of Americans over 70.

While you can’t prevent it, there are ways to protect your hearing right now.

KNOW THE SYMPTOMS. Some early signals of hearing loss include having trouble hearing conversations when two or more people are talking, or struggling to comprehend if there is background noise, like in a crowd, said Dr Frank Lin, director of the Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.

You might also have more difficulty hearing higher-pitched sounds (like children’s voices), because we lose the ability to hear higher frequencies first, he explained.

GET TESTED (ESPECIALLY IF IT’S BEEN DECADES). Dr Jennifer Gonzalez, an audiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix, said she asks patients in their 60s when they last had their hearing checked, “and they’ll say, ‘Oh, I haven’t had my hearing tested since I was in school.’”

If you have symptoms, make an appointment to see an audiologist, she said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recommends that you ask for a hearing test during your annual checkup.

MONITOR YOUR NOISE LEVELS. Your ability to hear can be worsened by routine noise exposure, Dr Lin said. Prolonged noise above 70 decibels may start to damage your hearing, according to the CDC

If you’re listening to music or watching videos on a smartphone, the CDC warns that the maximum volume allowed on these devices, 105-110 decibels, can cause hearing damage in less than five minutes.

USE EAR PROTECTION. Whether or not you have hearing loss, don’t use lawn mowers, power tools or leaf-blowers without protection, said Dr Lin. Playing music via earbuds doesn’t count; it can make it worse.

CONSIDER HEARING AIDS, WHICH CAN BOOST YOUR QUALITY OF LIFE. They have improved significantly in the last decade, said Dr Kelley Dwyer, chief of audiology for Emory Healthcare in Atlanta: “They have better technology. They don’t squeal. They’re not big and beige.”

Some hearing aids connect wirelessly to other compatible Bluetooth devices, so you can answer your phone with your hearing aids.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.