The WHO estimates that by the year 2050, over 900 million people globally will have disabling hearing loss. Currently, around 466 million individuals in the world live with hearing disorders. Ear problems may be a result of varying causes, which may be inherent or acquired.
How keen are you about ear health? Well, life without this critical sense of hearing can present many unprecedented challenges. While you might do your best to keep your ears clean, there’s a lot to learn about ear health.
Here are some of the surprising discoveries about ear health that might prove beneficial to your general well-being.
1. Volume Is the Number One Enemy to Ear Health
There has been an increase in the cases of hearing losses among young people. The worrying trend is attributable to the high volume levels evident when listening to music or watching videos using earbuds.
How often do you use your earbuds or earphones? What is the maximum volume during such instances? If you are keen on improving your ear health, you should limit your volume to below 60%.
Further, if you do listen to music for more than 60 minutes a day, you might need to limit your volume to a maximum of 30%. It’s also recommendable to use headphones as opposed to earbuds for your ears’ general health.
When using earbuds, you should treat them as personal items. Sharing your earbuds could easily lead to infection. You might need to consider proper hygiene measures such as cleaning your earbuds regularly to avoid infections.
2. Ear Wax Does Not Translate to a Dirty Ear
People often confuse a clean ear for a wax-free ear. Well, the wax in your ear plays the role of protection against dust and other particles. As such, cleaning your ear should focus more on the outer area. The worst mistake you can make is to use cotton swabs to remove such wax.
Such incorrect cleaning of your ear might compact the wax and other dirt closer to your eardrum. This might lead to potential damage to this delicate part of the ear. Such blockage around the eardrum is among the most common causes of disabling hearing loss.
3. Your Earrings Could Be a Ticking Time Bomb
Earrings are a beautiful fashion statement for most people. However, they could also pose a considerable risk to your ability to hear. Any bacteria festering around the earring piercing can lead to deadly infections.
Further touching such piercings with contaminated hands or earrings can have far-reaching implications on ear health. It would help to rub your ear piercings with alcohol to reduce the risk of infections. You should also consider doing this with all your earrings as often as you can to keep your ears safe.
4. Your Environment Can Affect Your Ear Health
Did you know that any noise that goes above 80 decibels is too loud and has the potential to harm your hearing? For most people who work in settings with high noise levels, you might not notice, but such noise poses a weighty ear health hazard for you.
You need to find ways to protect your ears while working in noisy environments. Having your earplugs on at all times can help protect your ears.
Whether you’re working with power tools or spending most of your time in the studio, earplugs can come in handy. Don’t risk your future ability to hear by exposing your ears to extreme noise levels.
5. Regular Checkup Keeps Hearing Loss at Bay
Most Americans only visit a specialist when there are apparent indicators of health complications. However, it’s good practice to undertake annual hearing exams to ensure you keep track of your ear health. This should be your routine, whether you have hearing loss or not.
Ensuring such consistent hearing tests can help in the early discoveries of conditions such as Microtia. With timely visits to the specialist, any congenital ear deformity is detectable early.
Frequent visits to an audiologist also ensure enough time to focus on the correction of any existing conditions. Your question on “how to take care of an ear infection” will also receive an informed response.
6. Rest Is Sacred
This may sound outrageous, but your ears need rest too. Imagine spending the day in a noisy environment, yet when you get home, you still put on your headphones to enjoy some music. If this is you, then it’s just a matter of time before you develop ear disorders.
Your ears deserve an adequate rest period. While you can achieve rest during sleeping intervals, it’s also essential to have instances of silence. This is where you enter into a meditative atmosphere.
It would shock you how beneficial such periods of rest can be on your ear health. Have you been experiencing pain or muffled hearing lately? You only need to consider giving your ears adequate rest, and it will be a matter of time before you recover.
It takes your ear 16 days to recover from the damages of high noise volume. This explains why rest is critical for your ears.
Guard Your Sense of Hearing by Observing These Ear Health Measures
Nothing matters more than your ability to sense. However, most times our failure to maintain proper ear health can cause irredeemable damage to your ears. If you’re keen on securing your hearing functionality for many years, this article is for you.
With proper hygiene, minimal noise, and constant visits to an audiologist, you can ensure high ear health standards. You should also ensure adequate rest and regular disinfection of earrings and piercing to minimize the risk of infections.
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