3 Tips to Keep Your Ears Healthy

Modern hearing aids, with all their technology and features, can go a long way in ensuring that we keep hearing our loved ones even when our natural hearing has faded away. However, what if we could preserve our hearing naturally, delaying the need for hearing aids for as long as possible? Fortunately, no matter what you are told, keeping your ears healthy isn’t an arduous task.

1. Maintain your ear health

Earwax build-up is natural, but it can temporarily impair your hearing if the build-up becomes excessive. Keeping the outside of your ears is an easy way to ensure that your hearing stays in good shape and you don’t have trouble hearing others.  

While the old adage is true; never insert anything smaller than your elbow into your ear, it’s important to keep the outside, visible parts of your ear clean and free from debris. By using a damp washcloth or towel, simply clean around the outer part of your ear to make sure earwax and any other debris can’t get inside your ear.

2. Do not be too thorough with ear cleaning  

Although earwax is an issue when it builds up in excess and spreads uncontrollably, the wax is beneficial for the ear canal as it acts as a natural lubricant, preventing the skin from cracking or becoming itchy. If you clean your earwax too thoroughly, you will risk leaving your skin vulnerable to bacterial infections. Moreover, earwax also keeps bugs and other insects from crawling inside your ears, as these tiny creatures do not like the smell of the wax and the hassle of walking through it. However, be aware of using Q-tips to remove earwax. Q-Tips remove the ear’s natural oils and can make matters worse by pushing the wax deeper inside the ear.  

A simple way to gauge when to remove earwax is to see whether it is building outside your ear. Once it is, remove the wax using the techniques mentioned above. Remember, do not stick anything in your ears. If you feel like you cannot remove the earwax yourself, do not hesitate to reach out to a doctor.   

3. Treat ear infections as soon as possible

Infections can be damaging to both your hearing health and your ears themselves. Among the damage that they can cause, infections can spread and damage the eardrum. The bacteria can cause the bones of the middle ear to erode (leading to abnormal vibrations and permanent hearing loss) and prevent the constant flow of blood to the ears by causing inflammation (again leading to hearing loss). Thus, it is important to treat ear infections at the earliest to prevent hearing loss.  

Keeping your ears in optimal shape doesn’t have to be a difficult task to accomplish. While no amount of ear cleaning can restore permanent hearing loss, a daily maintenance routine will help preserve your auditory system.