Introduction

We should be aware of the different ways we can take care of our ear and our hearing. With your physician's approval. cleaning your own ear at home can facilitate better hearing. Much like you care about your dental hygiene, ear hygiene should be a high priority as well.  Hearing care providers often offer several products that assist you in keeping your ears healthy and clean.

Ear Hygiene - Tips to Safely Cleaning your Ears

The following DO's and DON'Ts is a guideline to help you determine appropriate ways to clean your ears.

DO's:

• Use clean hands
• Clean the outer part of your ear by gently washing it with a washcloth and warm water
• Use an over-the-counter ear wax removal solution. Safely follow instructions on the box.
• If you have any concerns or are experiencing ear pain, swelling, blockage or hearing loss, visit a physician for more extensive ear wax removal treatment.

DON'Ts:

• Do not use a cotton swab (Q-tip) in your ear canal.  By doing so, you actually damage the tissue lining of your ear canal, not to mention the potential to puncture your ear drum. Itchy ears are often a byproduct of excessive dryness in the ear canal. Use of cotton swabs also pushes the wax further and deeper into your ear canal which makes it harder to remove and can potentially press against your ear drum causing excruciating pain.
• Do not use a bobbie-pin, your finger nail or any other sharp foreign objects to remove wax from your ear canal because they can cause serious damage.
• Do not use "ear candles".

Noise Exposure

Hearing loss can be a very debilitating pathology. The most prevalent source for hearing loss is excessive noise, yet this type of hearing loss can often be prevented with proper hearing protection. We experience loud noises on a frequent bases. Practicality would not advise one to wear hearing protection in all environments; however, it is advisable to be cognizant of sources and the effects of excessive noise. Three things to remember about noise exposure: How Loud, How Close, and How Long. The amplitude and time of exposure along with the proximity of the noise source determines the amount and extent of potential noise-induced hearing loss.

Examples of Excessive Noise Sources

The following chart shows several types of noise and the approximate decibel levels:

When steady state sounds (sounds lasting 1/2 sec or longer) reach a level of 85 dB A and the time of exposure is 8 hours or longer, the potential to incur hearing loss is very high. The chart below shows the relationship between sound level and exposure time limit. Notice that as the sound level increases by 3 dB, the exposure time required to induce a hearing loss decreases by half!

A good rule of thumb to use is the "three foot rule," which says, "if you must shout above the noise to be heard by someone standing three feet away then the noise could be damaging your hearing."

Protecting Your Hearing

The best way to prevent hearing loss from to noise exposure is to eliminate or reduce the noise level so that it is not hazardous. However, when the noise cannot be altered, individuals should wear hearing protection to minimize the effects of noise. Other ways of decrease your potential for noise-induced hearing loss is to decrease the time of exposure and to increase the distance between you and the noise source.

If you work in an environment with hazardous noise, a baseline audiogram (hearing test) is highly recommended to measure the effects of the noise on your hearing.  The baseline should ideally be measured prior to working in the noisy environment as to eliminate any pre-existing progressive hearing loss.

Go to Next Page: Step 2 - How & Where to have Your Hearing Tested