Maintaining healthy ears should be part of everyone’s hygiene regime. Checking your ears for dirt, excessive wax, skin conditions and other potential harmful factors should be a regular occurrence. By keeping a check-up on your ear health you will also ensure you do not experience hearing loss.
Healthy Ear Wax
A certain amount of ear wax is beneficial to maintaining good health. Ear wax provides a means of protection from foreign bodies that may fly, crawl or be blown into the inner ear canal. An excessive amount of hardened ear wax however, can affect the quality of your hearing and will need to be removed with care by an ear specialist or GP.
If ear wax becomes excessive it is easy to remove if it is still soft. Inserting a few drops of ear wax removal solution into each ear – and allowing the solution to flow into the ear canal for a few minutes before rinsing out is all that is required to maintain healthy ears.
Hearing Loss
Hearing loss can occur if there is any kind of blockage in the ear canal, whether this is a build-up of hardened ear wax or as a result of an injury, infection or inflammation. Inability to hear sounds clearly, earache or ringing in the ears are all signs that your ear health has been compromised. Consulting a GP is important if you experience any hearing loss. You should also avoid noisy environments to protect your ears from further discomfort or harm.
Protect your hearing by watching your short-term exposure to loud noises. This includes listening to an MP3 player too loud or being in noisy environments. If your workplace is noisy it is important to protect your hearing by wearing protective ear plugs or ear muffs, to reduce the impact on your eardrums.
Using Alternative Remedies
Using homemade remedies and natural oils, like tea tree oil, will help you maintain healthy ears by keeping excess ear wax build-up at bay. Ensuring the inner ear canal is naturally lubricated will also facilitate the cleaning process and help minimise the need for ear canal irrigation.
Ensuring ears are moisturised will reduce potential itching, dryness and flakiness of skin in the inner ear canal. Allergic conditions, eczema and psoriasis that affect the ears can be treated in the same way they are elsewhere on the body. Skin soothing can be achieved by adding a few drops of olive oil directly in the inner ear canal, although if itching persists it is important to seek medical advice.
Harmful Objects
Do not be tempted to use cotton swabs or Q-tips to speed up the ear cleaning process. Whilst it is easy to reach for a quick cleaning solution inserting pointy or sharp objects into the inner ear canal can be potentially harmful.
Yearly Check-ups
Visiting your GP for a once-a-year ear check-up is beneficial to your health. An ear specialist will be able to conduct a thorough health check that includes a hearing test and a cleaning and/or hardened ear wax removal.