Healthy Ears

Our ears require very little maintenance. Here are some hints to protect and keep them healthy:

NEVER, ever use cotton-tipped applicators in your ears. Cerumen, or ear wax, is natural, lubricates the canal, catches dirt particles, and is naturally moved to the outside.

If you remove the cerumen, your ears will most likely become itchy.

Using applicators in the ear canal can push the wax deeply into the canal creating even more difficult removal, scratch the canal with resulting infection, tear the skin of the canal with bleeding, or perforate or tear the ear drum.

If children see adults using applicators in their ears, they mimic the adults, using them in their own ears -- often with disastrous results.

To clean the wax:

Clean the cerumen from the outer ear canal with a moist washcloth wrapped around your finger.

Provided there is not a perforation or hole in the ear drum, limited use of wax removal drops or hydrogen peroxide in the ear as well as allowing warm shower water to enter the canal will help soften and remove the wax.

Other:

It is not recommended to remove the cerumen with a bulb syringe. Its tip may scratch the canal, starting an infection.

Never "candle" your ear. This has been proved totally ineffective and sometimes dangerous.

If the wax does not come out of your ear easily, see your physician.

Avoid loud sounds:

Exposure to loud music, fireworks, firearms, motorcycles, aircraft, power tools, and other sources of loud sound may cause permanent nerve-type hearing loss even with one exposure!

Tinnitus, or ringing in the ear, often accompanies such loss and is also often permanent.

When exposed to loud noise, always wear adequate approved ear protection.

Keep children away from such sounds; they can permanently lose their hearing, too.