Errors Your Ears Want You to Stop Making
By Sara Butler
Your ears are maybe the most low maintenance body part you have. In fact, they really take no maintenance at all. Still, many people are guilty of doing things to their ears that are not healthy for them; things that are completely unnecessary. Here are some errors you need to stop making with your ears.
Cleaning Them
Your ears are very self-sufficient. They are actually self-cleaning, so you don’t need to use cotton swabs or those crazy ear candles to clean them out. As a matter of fact, both of those things are probably hurting your ears way more than they’re helping.
Using cotton swabs to clean your ears can push earwax into your ear canal where it can build up and eventually block the canal. You can also accidentally cut your ear canal with the swabs or even perforate your eardrum – which is extremely painful.
As far as ear candles are concerned – forget about them. Research has found these candles to be completely ineffective as well as dangerous. You can burn your ear and you can also perforate your eardrum. So, let your ears do what they were meant to do, clean themselves.
Blasting Music in Your Headphones
According to the National Institute of Deafness, about 15 percent of Americans between 20 and 69 has some level of hearing loss due to exposure to loud noise. Playing loud music through your headphones is a great way to cause hearing damage and ultimately loss, especially if you use in-ear buds. If the person next to you can jam out to the music in your headphones, then it’s way too loud.
Putting Your Finger in Your Ear
Look, sticking your finger in your ear is something you’ve probably been doing since you were a toddler. But now that you’re an adult it’s time to put an end to it. You risk pushing earwax back into the ear canal and cutting the ear canal when you put your fingers in your ears. More importantly, your fingernails are full of microscopic bacteria that can cause an ear infection if you’re not careful, so it’s best to just keep them away. This is especially important if you are pre-diabetic or diabetic since that puts you at a bigger risk for infection.
Piercing Your Own Ears
Unless you’re a professional body piercer, you should never try to pierce your own ears or let a friend do it. It’s a great way to get an infection due to your instruments not being properly sterilized. Do yourself a favor and see a professional to get your ears pierced because they will have the right equipment that is also properly sterilized to get the job done.
