It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. In fact, the eyes do provide lots of information about a person\u2019s emotional state. But research now points to the ears as a source of information about one\u2019s inner world. To be more specific, earwax can reveal stress levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One study demonstrated that a build-up of the stress hormone cortisol can be measured in earwax. Cortisol is a \u201cfight or flight\u201d hormone that sends out alarm signals to the brain in response to stress. Cortisol can be measured in blood, but this provides a snapshot of one\u2019s hormone level in time, whereas earwax shows a build-up of the stress hormone. Researchers are hoping that earwax can provide a measure to supplement or inform diagnoses of depression and anxiety. It will make mental health assessments more accurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Noise itself is stressful. Have you noticed the high number of people blowing leaves in your neighborhood? Many of us who work from home, thanks to COVID-19, are annoyed by the sound. Leaf blowers are at the top of noise complaints. It\u2019s distracting to be in a Zoom meeting and have a loud, irritating leaf blower outside your door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cExposure to noises from crowds, traffic, and other everyday sounds can become harder to tolerate and increase stress levels, leading to anxiety and a reduction in overall quality of life\u201d, according to audiologist Dr. Stephanie Tompkins. She also suggests that noise sensitivity can lead to isolation as an attempt to avoid noisy situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did you know that people often become more sensitive to noise as they age? This can affect their mental and physical health such as a higher risk of heart attacks and strokes. As we age, it is normal to become less tolerant of certain noises that feel too loud and jarring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is difficult to feel calm and centered in the midst of noise pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What can you do? Reduce your time in loud places. Reduce the noise in your home. For example, I mute commercials when watching TV. Mute general noise in your home by absorbing it with carpet, drapes, and rugs. Plants soak up sound waves. Wear filtered earplugs and noise-canceling headphones. Keep in mind that not all noise is bad noise. Using a white noise machine to minimize the impact of outside noise can reduce stress caused by noise pollution. Set aside noise-free times. You’ll feel better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. In fact, the eyes do provide lots of information about a person\u2019s emotional state. But research now points to the ears as a source of information about one\u2019s inner world. To be more specific, earwax can reveal stress levels. One study demonstrated that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/interactionstherapycenter.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/interactionstherapycenter.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/interactionstherapycenter.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interactionstherapycenter.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interactionstherapycenter.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/interactionstherapycenter.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/interactionstherapycenter.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interactionstherapycenter.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interactionstherapycenter.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}