After 60: hearing specialists suggest one weekly “sound walk” to keep your ears sharper

The first time I tried it, it felt faintly ridiculous. My GP had mentioned that, after 60, we book our eyes and blood pressure in like clockwork, then quietly ignore our ears until the television remote is permanently welded to the “up” button. She suggested something oddly simple: take my hearing for a walk.

So I did. I left the house without headphones, turned off the podcast that normally covers the silence, and walked the same loop I’ve done for years. A bus sighed at the stop, a dog tag chimed against a lead, a cyclist’s chain clicked as they changed gear. None of it was new, but the act of listening on purpose changed the walk. The world sharpened around the edges. Ten minutes in, I realised I’d rarely given my ears any attention at all.

Audiologists have a name for this: a “sound walk”. Once a week, 15–20 minutes of deliberate listening, not just hearing. It won’t reverse hearing loss, but it can help keep the pathways that process sound nimble for longer - especially after 60, when they tend to get a bit rusty.

Why your hearing needs practice after 60

We talk about “losing our hearing” as if someone misplaces a switch. In reality, age-related hearing change is gradual and layered. Tiny hair cells in the inner ear become less sensitive, but your brain’s sound-processing circuits also slow down. The combination shows up first in busy rooms and soft voices, not just in the high-pitched squeak of a kettle.

What specialists see in clinic is familiar: people in their 60s and 70s can often still hear a beep in a quiet booth, but struggle when sound gets messy. A family dinner, a restaurant, a grandchild talking from the next room. The ears bring in the noise; the brain can’t sort it cleanly. That sorting is a skill known as “auditory processing”, and like any skill, it improves with use and declines when neglected.

A weekly sound walk is almost insultingly low-tech, but it targets exactly that skill. By asking your brain to notice, separate and name sounds in a real environment, you nudge the circuits that help you follow a conversation at the café or catch your name being called at the surgery. Think of it as physiotherapy for your listening, not just your ears.

“You can’t control your birthday, but you can keep your brain interested in sound,” one audiologist told me. “A sound walk is cheap training.”

What a “sound walk” actually is

A sound walk is not a power walk and it’s not meditation, though it borrows the calm of both. It is simply a short walk where your main task is to listen on purpose, preferably once a week.

Pick a route that feels safe and familiar: a local park, a quiet residential loop, a high street before it gets busy. Leave headphones and phone calls at home or in your pocket. As you walk, you gently scan for sounds and bring them into focus one by one, rather than letting them blur into background.

You’re not trying to judge what you hear, only to notice it. Door closing, birds arguing, a bin lorry reversing. Near, far, left, right, loud, soft. The “exercise” part is in the attention, not the distance. Most people find 10–20 minutes plenty to begin with. Longer isn’t better; regular is.

How to do a weekly sound walk (and the tiny rules that matter)

Method first, tweaks later. Specialists suggest a simple pattern, especially if you’re new to this kind of focused listening.

1. Pick your route. Choose somewhere you can walk for 10–20 minutes without worrying about traffic or uneven pavements. A lap you can repeat works well.
2. Arrive without noise. No headphones, no radio, no phone on loudspeaker. Let your ears “arrive” before you start.
3. Start with five sounds. Spend the first few minutes simply counting distinct sounds: footsteps, engines, speech, birds, wind, a gate. Aim to name five, then five more.
4. Shift your focus. Spend a minute listening only to nearer sounds, then only to distant ones. Then switch from high sounds (birds, beeps) to low (buses, distant rumble).
5. Add gentle movement. Turn your head slowly from side to side as you walk and notice how each sound changes. This helps your brain map direction and distance.

A few guardrails keep it helpful rather than tiring. Avoid very loud routes (busy A-roads, active building sites), especially if you already have hearing sensitivity or tinnitus. If you wear hearing aids, keep them in; your sound walk is training your brain to work with the technology you actually use. And if you feel overwhelmed, shrink the walk: five focused minutes on a bench is still a sound walk.

Let’s be honest: nobody is going to schedule this like a hospital appointment. Tie it to something you already do - the Sunday paper run, the Wednesday park loop, the habit of “getting some air” after lunch. The consistency is more important than the perfection.

Why something this small makes a difference

At first glance, paying attention to a passing bus doesn’t sound like healthcare. The science behind it is quieter but persuasive. The parts of your brain that decode speech, locate sound and filter out noise depend on practice. When input drops - because we avoid busy places, or retreat into silence when conversation feels hard - those networks thin out faster.

A weekly burst of deliberate listening does three useful things:

• It keeps your brain rehearsing how to separate sounds, the same skill you need at a party.
• It reminds you how to locate sounds in space, helping balance and awareness on the street.
• It strengthens the habit of noticing changes, so early shifts in your hearing don’t slip by unnoticed.

People who do sound walks regularly often report a side effect: they catch themselves turning the television down a notch, or finding café chatter a bit less exhausting. Not because their ears have magically improved, but because their brain is handling the input with a touch more grace.

“Hearing well is not only about volume,” as one hearing therapist put it. “It’s about clarity. You can train clarity.”

When to walk, and when to get checked

A sound walk is a tool, not a test. It’s there to keep you tuned, not to replace a proper hearing assessment. What it can do is make you more aware of small shifts that deserve attention.

Pay extra attention and consider speaking to your GP or an audiologist if you notice, during or after your walks:

• Persistent ringing, buzzing or hissing in one or both ears that doesn’t fade.
• Sounds that feel uncomfortably loud or distorted, even at normal volumes.
• Ongoing trouble following speech in quiet settings, not just in crowds.
• One ear seeming noticeably weaker or “blocked” compared with the other.
• Dizziness, imbalance or a sense that the world moves when you turn your head quickly.

A baseline hearing test around 60–65, and then every few years, is increasingly recommended - much like eye checks. The sound walk keeps you engaged in between. It’s also a gentle way to notice when your world has become quieter than it should be.

A small weekly ritual that changes how you listen

What stayed with me after a month of sound walks wasn’t a miracle improvement but a shift in how I occupied the world. I caught myself closing my eyes at the bus stop, tracking which way an ambulance was coming from. I realised I could hear the difference between my neighbour’s car and a stranger’s. The television no longer needed to flood the room.

Scents tie to memory, but so do sounds - the scrape of a key in a familiar lock, the particular thud of your own stairs, the kettle’s soft click. Keeping those sharp is less about gadgets and more about attention. A weekly sound walk costs nothing, asks little of your joints, and gives your ears and brain a modest, regular workout.

Try it once this week. Leave the headphones at home, walk the route you know, and listen as if you were learning the place from scratch. Then, if it helps, tell a friend who keeps saying, “Speak up, would you?” and insists it’s everyone else who’s mumbling.

Key point	Detail	Why it matters after 60
The habit	10–20 minute weekly sound walk	Simple, low-effort way to keep listening skills active
The focus	Notice, name and locate everyday sounds	Trains the brain circuits that handle noise and conversation
The limit	Not a replacement for hearing tests	Encourages early checks instead of waiting for a crisis

FAQ:

• Is a sound walk useful if I already have hearing aids? Yes. It helps your brain adapt to the way your aids present sound, improving comfort in real-world situations like shops and buses.
  
• Can I just do this at home instead of walking? You can practise focused listening at home, but a walk gives you richer, more varied sounds and gentle movement, which also supports balance.
  
• What if I have tinnitus? Keep volume environments moderate and stop if your ringing spikes. Many people with tinnitus still benefit, but check with your audiologist for tailored advice.
  
• How often should I do it? Once a week is a good starting point. If you enjoy it, short daily versions - even five minutes in the garden - can add extra practice.
  
• Will this prevent age-related hearing loss entirely? No. It can’t stop the physical changes in the ear, but it can help your brain cope better with them and may delay how much they affect daily life.