Ears Are Important Too! | 7 Tips To Protect Your Hearing

A lot of people don’t worry about their hearing until they reach old age. But your ears are just as important as the other aspects of your body. As well as allowing you to hear everything, they are so important to help us keep balance. In fact, they are essential for our safety and communication in our world. However, there are currently 11 million people living with hearing loss in the UK. And this is expected to rise to 15 million in the next two decades. Therefore, it’s so important to look after our ears from when we are a young age. Here are seven pieces of advice to protect your hearing.

Clean them regularly

It’s so important that you clean your ears regularly to ensure you protect your hearing. After all, if you don’t do it, you are bound to get an influx of ear wax. It can end up clogging your ears, causing hearing loss over time. Cleaning your ears will also prevent infection and irritation in your inner ear. However, a lot of people are confused about how to clean their ears. Some recommend using white vinegar, warm tap water, and rubbing alcohol. You mix these together and then pour a few drops in each ear. It will then soften the wax so it can be removed easier. Make sure you then drain the liquid away so it doesn’t cause infection! Mineral oil is also an excellent solution for cleaning your ears. Don’t hesitate to ask at the chemist too as there are several products available to buy.

Reduce your music

We are using devices with headphones more than ever to listen to music. After all, it’s an easy and convenient way to listen to great tunes while on the move! But research has found one billion teenagers and young adults are at risk of noise-induced hearing loss because of audio devices. Therefore, it’s so important to make sure the music on your devices, and the kids, isn’t too high. A lot of people recommend keeping the sound at less than 60% to protect your ears. And we’re not just talking headphones; make sure the music in the car is not too loud. If it’s louder than 85Db, you need to turn it down. Otherwise, your family could be at risk of noise-induced hearing loss if they listen to it for too long!

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Get them checked out

We are a nation who leaves going to the doctor for another day. We think we will recover quickly, so there is no point in wasting the doctor's time. But if you believe that there is something wrong with your ears, it’s so important to see the doctor. An ear infection could get worse and could lead to hearing loss if left untreated. Also, if it’s only one ear, it’s still important to see the doctor. It could be caused by benign tumours on the nerve bundle leading to the brain. As this article says, it should always be investigated as soon as possible as an early diagnosis can affect a positive outcome! And even if it’s your kid’s ears, you need to take them to the doctor. Here’s some advice if your kid is scared of going to see them!

Avoid using cotton buds

A lot of people use cotton buds to clean out pesky wax from their ear canal. But there has been some research which claims they aren’t good for your ears. For one thing, inserting the cotton bud in your ear can damage the ear drum. And also if you get rid of too much wax, it will cause an easy path for dust and harmful particles to enter your ear! Therefore, avoid using them for your ears as much as possible to protecting your hearing!

Remove water after swimming

You might be surprised how many people have issues with their ears after they have been swimming! Bacteria can often get in your ear and cause an infection of the outer ear canal, causing swimmer’s ear. It can lead to pain, discharge, and even temporary hearing loss in your ear. Therefore, you need to make sure you protect your ears when you go swimming. You should make sure you are swimming in clean water to stop risks of infection. Also, you could make sure you and the kids wear swimming caps to keep the water out. After swimming, it’s so important to remove any water from your ears. Shake the water out so that you don’t end up at risk of swimmer’s ear!

Protect your ears when using machinery

A high percentage of people suffer from noise-induced hearing loss because of their work environment. Therefore, it’s so important to make sure you are protecting your ears with earplugs when you are using any machinery at work. If you don’t feel protected, don’t use the device as it could affect your hearing. If you do end up getting exposed to loud noise via the machinery, you could potentially end up with tinnitus. You can make a claim against your employer if this occurs; you can read more on ukclaimlawyers.co.uk. And this doesn’t just apply in the workplace. When you are using any form of machinery such as lawnmowers and chainsaws at home, you need to protect your ears!

Manage your stress levels

We all know that stress can cause many health issues. However, you might not realise that stress can cause temporary tinnitus! It’s because stress causes your body to put pressure on nerves and blood flow. It can then travel to your inner ear and cause tinnitus symptoms. Therefore, to protect your hearing, you should make sure you try and control your stress. Find ways to keep yourself calm such as yoga and pilates. And if you are getting any symptoms, make sure you go to the doctor. Otherwise, you could end up with permanent tinnitus!

Also, when you have a cold, make sure you aren’t blowing too hard as this can also lead to an ear infection!

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