Learn How to Maintain Proper Ear Health

Many people do not know how to properly maintain ear health. In fact, if the health and ear hygiene are not maintained properly, there can be impaired hearing and balance. Caring for ear hygiene and health is important to prevent various problems in the ear, such as ear infections, ringing in the ears, to hearing loss, or even sudden deafness. Not only interfere with hearing, problems with the ear can also disturb the balance of the body that appears in the form of vertigo. Therefore, you need to maintain good ear health so that the hearing and balance organs are still functioning properly.

The Right Way to Maintain Ear Health

The following are some steps you can take to maintain ear health:

1. Stop the habit of prying ears

In the ear canal, a small amount of ear wax is actually normal. Earwax is formed as a way to protect the ear canal from dirt and dust. However, sometimes there can be accumulation of earwax which makes the ears feel itchy or blocked. Therefore, many people use cotton buds, paper clips, or even hair clips to clean ear wax. Be careful, this habit can actually hurt the ear and make the ear wax go deeper. Actually, the ear has a natural way to clean its own dirt. But if earwax builds up and makes your ears feel uncomfortable or your hearing becomes disturbed, you should visit an ENT doctor to do a safe examination and ear cleaning.

2. Keep the ears away from sounds that are too loud

If you like listening to music using earphones, there are a few things you need to pay attention to. Don't use earphones or headphones for 1 hour continuously. Give the ear time to rest about 5 minutes before listening to music again. Also, keep the volume up. Avoid listening to loud music for a long time, because it can damage the ear. If you work in a noisy environment, such as in a factory or building construction, it is recommended that you use earplugs or ear plugs to avoid hearing loss.

3. Avoid using ear candles

One alternative method that is quite popular in the community for ear cleaning is ear candle therapy. But in fact, many doctors do not recommend the use of ear candles, because this method has not been proven effective for cleaning ears and it is not clear what the benefits are for ear health. Not useful, the use of ear candles also tends to be dangerous because it can cause injury to the ear, such as burning and blocked ear canal.

4. Keep the ears dry

The condition of the ear which is often wet or too moist allows bacteria and fungus to multiply in the ear. This will trigger irritation and infection of the ear. If you like swimming, you should use earplugs to prevent water from entering the ear. If you feel water coming into your ear when you take a shower to make the hearing unclear, tilt your head immediately to drain the water out. Also, don't forget to dry your ears with a clean, dry towel after swimming or bathing.

5. Perform regular ear checks

Ear examination to the ENT doctor regularly is also important to maintain ear health and detect if there is interference with the ear. In this examination, the doctor will evaluate the condition of your ear health and hearing function by conducting a physical examination of the ear and a hearing test. Through routine checks to the doctor, signs or symptoms of ear disease can be detected early and treatment measures can be done immediately. If you love your hearing, always maintain good ear health through the methods above. If there are no complaints in the ear or hearing, you can check ear health to the ENT doctor every 3-5 years. However, if there are complaints in the ear, such as ear pain, discharge or blood from the ear, or hearing is suddenly interrupted, do not delay to immediately consult a ENT doctor so that treatment can be immediately given.