If the human body came with Care & Maintenance instructions, today’s recommendation from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) would certainly be on them. It’d be right in there to have your teeth cleaned and checked annually; visit your general practitioner for physicals and blood work; get vaccinated from diseases; exercise; eat fruits and vegetables; drink plenty of water and, of course, “do not dry clean.” The recommendation makes sense. Our hearing is tightly tied to our quality of life — from little things that impact each and every day (like enjoying music or missing a punchline) to bigger issues that can affect our long-term physical ...