What sort of care should you give your ears?
Jan 18, 2009
YOUR ears do not need so much attention. They do not need to be brushed like your teeth or trimmed like your toenails. All your ears need is to be washed regularly, preferably with soap and water while you take a bath or shower.
By Fred Ouma
YOUR ears do not need so much attention. They do not need to be brushed like your teeth or trimmed like your toenails. All your ears need is to be washed regularly, preferably with soap and water while you take a bath or shower.
You might wonder about ear wax and whether it needs to be cleaned out. Actually, even though earwax seems yucky, it serves a purpose.
“Your ear canal makes wax to protect the ear,†said Dr. Gregory Tumweheirwe, an ear, nose and throat specialist at Mulago Hospital.
After it is produced, he says, it slowly makes its way to the opening of the ear. Then it either falls out or is removed when you wash. If you want, you can clean the opening of your ear gently with a washcloth.
However, you must be very careful, lest you cause injury to the ear. According to Dr. Tumweheirwe, it is possible to hurt the ear drum if you poke it. “It is not even a good idea to use a cotton swab,†he warns.
“This can push wax deeper into your ear, where it can get stuck. Irritating the ear canal with a cotton swab can even lead to an ear canal infection,†he said.
In addition, do not put anything sharp in your ear because it can cause bleeding or serious damage.
If you think you have dirt or too much earwax in your ear, Dr. Michael Awubwa of the Ear, Nose and Throat department at Mulago Hospital suggests seeking a specialist’s expertise to clean it out.
Likewise, as you listen to your favourite artiste’s hit or bring out the mower or screeching grinder, protecting the ear from loud sound is your least worry.
However, noise-riddled factories were once the main source of noise-induced hearing damage. Today, say experts, there is a new culprit.
Shanna Thompson, an audiologist said: “The problem has shifted from the workplace to the recreational area and there’s no requirement that people in recreational activities have to protect their ears.â€
Hearing damage is related to two things: loudness and length of exposure. So how loud is too loud? Anything above 85 decibels is considered damaging to the ear. Music concerts and cranked-up iPods all top out over 100 decibels.
On a more practical level, if you have to raise your voice or shout to be heard, the noise you are being exposed to may be harmful.
Warning signs include a muffled feeling in your ears that goes away in a couple of days, tinnitis or a constant ringing in your ear. This signals temporary cochlear damage.
“With limited exposure to loud noise, your hearing will return to normal,†says Thompson. “But if the ear is exposed for too long, eventually it won’t recover,†she adds.
Frequent exposure to excessive noise will, combined with age, eventually lead to slow, high-frequency hearing loss. According to Thompson, that is the hardest kind of impairment to correct with a hearing aid.
New products, like earplugs, can help protect ears at concerts without distorting the quality of the music’s sound. There are inexpensive roll-up earplugs as well. They can also help to minimise sound.
But the best advice remains the most simple. “Turn it down. That’s all you can do,†says Sauer.
“If you’re hitting three to four concerts a week, and you’re jogging with your iPod cranked up to the point where you can’t hear the cars around you, you’re asking for trouble.â€
Caring for pierced ears
Pierced ears may look pretty, but you need to take good care of them or things could get ugly.
According to medical experts, when you first get your ears pierced, do not remove the earrings until your ears are completely healed. If you do, your holes could close up.
You will also want to prevent infections in your newly-pierced ears. Wash your hands before touching your pierced ears.
Rubbing some methylated spirit on the wound also helps keep germs away, says Dr. Tumweheirwe.
“With an adult’s help, soak a cotton ball in spirit and apply it to both sides of the hole (with the earring still in your ear).
Twirl the earring several times to make sure the spirit gets in and around the earring.
If your pierced ears are infected, consult a doctor. An infected earlobe may be swollen, red, warm and painful, and it may ooze pus.
Do not wait for it to get better by itself because the infection may spread and make you ill.
Precautions for swimmers
Sometimes, swimming can lead to a case of swimmer’s ear. That is when your outer ear gets infected, causing swelling and pain.
This happens when water gets stuck in your ear canal. “This can irritate the skin, making it easier for bacteria to invade the skin and cause an infection,†says Dr. Awubwa.
“You should see the doctor if you think you have swimmer’s ear. Special ear drops can help you get rid of it.â€
To prevent swimmer’s ear, doctors recommend that you dry your ears after swimming and shake out excess water, especially if you feel it stuck in there.
Covering the ears with swim moulds would keep water from entering the ear canal.
Compiled by Fred Ouma
YOUR ears do not need so much attention. They do not need to be brushed like your teeth or trimmed like your toenails. All your ears need is to be washed regularly, preferably with soap and water while you take a bath or shower.
You might wonder about ear wax and whether it needs to be cleaned out. Actually, even though earwax seems yucky, it serves a purpose.
“Your ear canal makes wax to protect the ear,†said Dr. Gregory Tumweheirwe, an ear, nose and throat specialist at Mulago Hospital.
After it is produced, he says, it slowly makes its way to the opening of the ear. Then it either falls out or is removed when you wash. If you want, you can clean the opening of your ear gently with a washcloth.
However, you must be very careful, lest you cause injury to the ear. According to Dr. Tumweheirwe, it is possible to hurt the ear drum if you poke it. “It is not even a good idea to use a cotton swab,†he warns.
“This can push wax deeper into your ear, where it can get stuck. Irritating the ear canal with a cotton swab can even lead to an ear canal infection,†he said.
In addition, do not put anything sharp in your ear because it can cause bleeding or serious damage.
If you think you have dirt or too much earwax in your ear, Dr. Michael Awubwa of the Ear, Nose and Throat department at Mulago Hospital suggests seeking a specialist’s expertise to clean it out.
Likewise, as you listen to your favourite artiste’s hit or bring out the mower or screeching grinder, protecting the ear from loud sound is your least worry.
However, noise-riddled factories were once the main source of noise-induced hearing damage. Today, say experts, there is a new culprit.
Shanna Thompson, an audiologist said: “The problem has shifted from the workplace to the recreational area and there’s no requirement that people in recreational activities have to protect their ears.â€
Hearing damage is related to two things: loudness and length of exposure. So how loud is too loud? Anything above 85 decibels is considered damaging to the ear. Music concerts and cranked-up iPods all top out over 100 decibels.
On a more practical level, if you have to raise your voice or shout to be heard, the noise you are being exposed to may be harmful.
Warning signs include a muffled feeling in your ears that goes away in a couple of days, tinnitis or a constant ringing in your ear. This signals temporary cochlear damage.
“With limited exposure to loud noise, your hearing will return to normal,†says Thompson. “But if the ear is exposed for too long, eventually it won’t recover,†she adds.
Frequent exposure to excessive noise will, combined with age, eventually lead to slow, high-frequency hearing loss. According to Thompson, that is the hardest kind of impairment to correct with a hearing aid.
New products, like earplugs, can help protect ears at concerts without distorting the quality of the music’s sound. There are inexpensive roll-up earplugs as well. They can also help to minimise sound.
But the best advice remains the most simple. “Turn it down. That’s all you can do,†says Sauer.
“If you’re hitting three to four concerts a week, and you’re jogging with your iPod cranked up to the point where you can’t hear the cars around you, you’re asking for trouble.â€
Caring for pierced ears
Pierced ears may look pretty, but you need to take good care of them or things could get ugly.
According to medical experts, when you first get your ears pierced, do not remove the earrings until your ears are completely healed. If you do, your holes could close up.
You will also want to prevent infections in your newly-pierced ears. Wash your hands before touching your pierced ears.
Rubbing some methylated spirit on the wound also helps keep germs away, says Dr. Tumweheirwe.
“With an adult’s help, soak a cotton ball in spirit and apply it to both sides of the hole (with the earring still in your ear).
Twirl the earring several times to make sure the spirit gets in and around the earring.
If your pierced ears are infected, consult a doctor. An infected earlobe may be swollen, red, warm and painful, and it may ooze pus.
Do not wait for it to get better by itself because the infection may spread and make you ill.
Precautions for swimmers
Sometimes, swimming can lead to a case of swimmer’s ear. That is when your outer ear gets infected, causing swelling and pain.
This happens when water gets stuck in your ear canal. “This can irritate the skin, making it easier for bacteria to invade the skin and cause an infection,†says Dr. Awubwa.
“You should see the doctor if you think you have swimmer’s ear. Special ear drops can help you get rid of it.â€
To prevent swimmer’s ear, doctors recommend that you dry your ears after swimming and shake out excess water, especially if you feel it stuck in there.
Covering the ears with swim moulds would keep water from entering the ear canal.
Compiled by Fred Ouma