Health Tips
Protect Your Ears with Safety Tips
By
Oct 29, 2007 - 9:11:55 PM

Now hear this! Protect Your Ears with Safety Tips from an ENT

(HealthNewsDigest.com) - Imagine walking into a room and hardly understanding what’s being said. You can hear sounds but speech sounds are muffled and hard to understand. This is what it is like to have mild to moderate hearing loss, and it can happen if you don’t take care of your ears.

“Many types of hearing impairment or discomfort are due to safety issues that could have been avoided,” explains Michael Ellis, MD, and an ear, nose and throat physician (ENT), as well as clinical professor of otolaryngology at Louisiana State University School of Medicine. “Most of us take our ear health for granted until it’s too late and a hearing loss occurs and impacts our daily life and happiness.

Dr. Ellis offers some helpful tips below to preserve your hearing and maintain healthy ears.

Turn It Down!: Many baby boomers are now suffering the effects of attending too many very loud rock concerts and have issues ranging from mild hearing loss to ringing in the ears, also known as tinnitus. In today’s world, if you frequently listen to your iPod or MP3 Player, have a friend stand next to you while you’re plugged in. “If your friend can hear the sound through your earphones, you've got the volume turned up too loud,” says Dr. Ellis. And remember to keep the volume on your car radio at a moderate level, too. Being exposed to too loud music or noise will eventually take its toll on your hearing, so he advises everyone to “turn it down.”

Plug It Up: If your work exposes you to constant loud noises or you like to work in the yard with loud tools, you should get in the habit of wearing ear plugs. “Constant exposure to very loud noises may eventually cause permanent damage to your hearing,” explains Dr. Ellis. “If you're exposed to really loud noise for a short time, say a concert, sometimes for awhile your hearing may be muffled or you might hear ringing in your ears. Usually, this is temporary, and your ears will go back to normal, as long as you don’t do this frequently,” adds Dr. Ellis. “It’s best to protect your ears when you know there will be loud noises because once hearing damage occurs, what you’ve lost can never be recovered.”

Flying the Friendly Skies: If you travel frequently or just find yourself flying somewhere when you are congested from a cold, remember to suck on a candy or chew gum when taking off and landing to help open the Eustachian tube in your ear (thereby helping to prevent the feeling of ‘popping’ and any associated discomfort). “This can even prevent perforation of the eardrum as it tries to adjust to changes in pressure,” explains Dr. Ellis. “If you have had, or are currently suffering from, a head cold, try taking some decongestant medication or using an over-the-counter decongestant nose spray before the flight as this will also help to clear and unblock the Eustachian tube.”

Waxing Poetic on Ear Wax: Millions of adults have problematic ear wax that can result in an uncomfortable impaction. Using cotton swabs, which almost three-quarters (74%) of U.S. adults report using to clean their ears according to a new survey* conducted for Murine Earigate, can be problematic. “Too often, swabs are used to clean further in than the outer ear, pushing wax further into the ear canal, causing an impaction or even perforating the delicate ear drum in extreme cases,” explains Dr. Ellis. “Never use swabs for anything but cleaning the outer ear.” Instead, he advises that once the ears are cleaned of excess wax, , using new Murine Earigate Ear Cleansing System can safely help prevent ear wax build-up and avoid impactions. Without putting pressure on the ear drum, Murine Earigate utilizes a patented reverse-spray technology to gently rinse the ear canal with a hypoallergenic solution of isotonic, 100% natural source sea water. This will help prevent a buildup that can result in a hearing problem, requiring professional intervention to remove the impaction.

Keep ‘Em Dry: While normal ear wax actually acts as a water repellant, a build-up of wax in your ears can actually cause water to become trapped in the ear canal, which may lead to a painful ear infection. “To keep water out of the ear canal, tilt your head to the right and the left to allow proper drainage after taking a shower, swimming, etc.,” explains Dr. Ellis. If the sensation of water persists, use a few drops of rubbing alcohol to dry any residual water.

Keep Germs Out: If you wear headphones or ear buds to listen to your iPod or MP3 Player for even an hour a day, more germs may be getting into your ears – some reports estimate that foreign objects like ear buds can introduce up to 700 times more bacteria into the ear. It’s important to keep ear phones and ear buds clean to avoid a potential bacterial infection: wipe down ear buds with rubbing alcohol before each use.

For more information on ear safety/health or new Murine Earigate Ear Cleansing System, visit www.murine.com.

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