7 Things Ear Doctors Never Do

It’s easy to take your hearing and ear health for granted. But the reality is that many seemingly harmless behaviors can cause irreversible damage.

To complicate matters, it can take years for these activities to have negative effects. Fortunately, there are ways to keep your ears healthy as you age.

HuffPost asked doctors who specialize in this field to share the things they never do to keep their ears healthy. Read on for the behaviors they avoid.

“I never leave home without earplugs in my purse,” Dr. Maura Cosetti, director of the Eye and Ear Institute at Mount Sinai in New York, told HuffPost. “While it may be easier to remember to wear ear protection when going to an indoor concert, there are many situations where we are unexpectedly exposed to loud and potentially damaging noise.”

He emphasized that noise-induced hearing loss is very common and cannot be reversed. Therefore, prevention is the key to maintaining hearing health and longevity.

“Whether it’s attending a concert or sporting event, operating heavy machinery or shooting a firearm, I always recommend wearing hearing protection,” said Dr. Kenny Lin, an otolaryngologist at Houston Methodist Hospital. “Protecting our ears from loud noise is the most important modifiable factor in protecting our hearing from noise-induced hearing loss. I keep concert earplugs in the glove box of my car so they’re easily accessible when I’m at an event that might be uncomfortably loud.

“I would never fly if I had a stuffy nose without using a decongestant or special aircraft earplugs,” said otolaryngologist Dr. Bradley B. Block, host of the “A Doctor’s Guide to the Doctor” podcast. “Flying with a stuffy nose can make it difficult for the ears to align or ‘pop’, so when the plane descends it can be very painful and cause fluid in the ear or a ruptured eardrum.”

Indeed, flying in traffic can worsen the symptoms of “airplane ear” because part of the ear doesn’t work as well. So, if you can’t avoid flying, be sure to use a decongestant to improve nasal function. Just make sure you take the right dose to keep you protected throughout the flight.

Block also suggested buying travel-specific earplugs that have filters that limit the amount of air that flows through your ears to give them more time to adjust to changes in pressure.

Otorhinolaryngologist Dr Sreekant Cherukuri said he never ignores hearing loss. While sudden changes in hearing may indicate another problem, hearing loss that occurs gradually over time should also be addressed.

“Numerous studies have linked untreated hearing loss to increased risk of depression, anxiety, social isolation and falls,” Cherukuri said.

He also cited a Johns Hopkins study that found dementia was 61% more common in people with hearing loss and hearing aid use. the result was a 32% lower prevalence of dementia.

“I would never clean my ears,” Block said. “The ears are self-cleaning. The body has a system for making and expelling wax, and wax doesn’t usually build up if left alone. The purpose of the wax is to protect the ears from water, so removing it leaves the ears vulnerable to water damage.

Indeed, without adequate protective wax, water entering the ear can cause a painful infection known as otitis externa, or swimmer’s ear.

“Removing the wax can also make the ears dry, flaky, and itchy,” Block said. “Cleaning the ears can also push the wax in, scratch the canal or damage the eardrum.”

If you are concerned about excessive earwax build-up or sudden hearing loss, consult a doctor who can check your ears for any problems and help eliminate them. And remember: never stick the Q-tip in your ear.

“Personal listening devices present problems that we’ve been aware of for decades, ever since the Sony Walkman first appeared,” said Dr. Robert Sataloff, MD, chief of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Drexel University College. Medicine.

“Some newer devices have sound limiters so they can’t damage our ears. But if you’re listening through headphones and the music is loud enough that the person next to you knows what you’re listening to, it’s potentially dangerous.

Block said he still uses headphones, but also urged caution.

“One of the benefits of modern headphones and earphones is that they block out ambient sounds so we don’t have to listen very loudly,” Block said. “But with the powerful speakers packed into these little devices, I would never listen to headphones or earphones at full volume.”

“Avoid using ear protection that is inadequate for the anticipated noise exposure,” Sataloff said. “Ear protection has a noise reduction rating, or NRR. You want the sound that reaches your eardrum to be below 85 [decibels]so if you are constantly exposed to audio above 90 or 95 [decibels]then you should wear earmuffs.”

He suggested downloading noise level measurement apps to measure noise levels to determine what type of ear protection you might need.

“Mobile phone apps aren’t as accurate as professional sound pressure meters, but they’re close,” Sataloff said. “And if you download two or three of them, you’ll get a rough idea of ​​the sound.”

“Whenever possible, avoid taking medications, even prescription medications, that are ototoxic, meaning they can damage the ears,” Sataloff said. “Most drugs that do this cause permanent hearing loss that people can’t recover from.”

Ototoxic medications include certain antibiotics and chemotherapy drugs, which are not always the only options on the market, so talk to your doctor about this potential side effect.

“It’s wise to ask doctors if the medication is ototoxic, and if so, to ask if there are alternatives,” Sataloff advised. “In some cases there is.”