Remember how Shrek literally pulled out a candle from his ear for the dinner table? Ever tried doing it yourself? Well, the stuff in your ears may be called wax, but it can t really be used to make a candle. However, it certainly can signify a lot about your health. Though the idea of discussing earwax is rather disgusting, it actually plays a pivotal role in keeping your ears healthy and functioning. Earwax protects your eardrums by barring the entry of insects, fungi, bacteria, dust and bacteria. In clinical terms, earwax is also known as cerumen. 

Studies indicate that children typically produce more earwax than adults. The earwax in your ear is a combination of alcohol, shed layers of the ear, unsaturated and saturated long-chain fatty acids and squalene. In order to clean earwax, you should not insert objects too deep in your ear, instead, you can just wipe it off with a cotton swab.  The color and texture of the earwax removed can actually indicate your overall health condition, stress level, genetic ancestry, etc.

Know what your earwax color says about your health 
Pale yellow to yellow earwax: It is the most common type of earwax and indicates overall good health. Children typically produce soft, pale yellow earwax and in case of adults, the color should remain the same, but the texture tends to be sticky. 
Wet vs. dry earwax: Wet and dry are the genetically determined earwax types, wherein, the 'wet type' is dominant and the 'dry type' is recessive. A research, conducted on Biologic variation in health and illness: race, age, and sex differences (1985) by Overfield, Theresa, established that dry-type earwax indicates East Asian and Native American ancestry, while wet-type indicates African and European. 
Thick, dark and black colored earwax: The production of earwax is also influenced by your stress level i.e. when you are stressed out, the glands that are responsible for the production of earwax work overtime and produce excess amount of earwax. As this earwax collects, it can turn thicker and darker thus, this type of earwax is a sign of increased stress level. And, black colored earwax indicates that it has been accumulating in your ears for quite some time and has not been cleaned. To avoid this, it is essential to clean your ears from time to time and in the right way. 
Dry, gray earwax: The gray color of the wax is an indication of dust build-up and must be cleaned properly at regular intervals. However, if your earwax suddenly seems dry and brittle, it could be the sign of a skin infection. Dry earwax accompanied by itchiness in the ear is usually a sign of eczema.
Bloody earwax: Blood in the earwax should never be ignored. This could be caused by an ear infection or can be a sign of ruptured eardrum and you must consult your doctor immediately. 
Thus it is important that you take proper care of your ears so as to ensure that your hearing is maintained and although earwax protects your ears against infections and problems, it must be cleaned from time to time. It is advisable that you get your ears cleaned professionally, in case you are suffering from certain ailments such as Diabetes.

Earwax - Did You Know Its Color Can Say A Lot About Your Health?

Swimmer's ear is a medical condition, which involves inflammation, irritation or infection of the ear. It may affect the outer ear and also the ear canal. Swimmer's ear is called Otitis externa in medical terms. The condition may be acute to chronic in nature.

Causes
Swimmer's ear is an infection that's usually caused by bacteria commonly found in water and soil. Infections caused by a fungus or a virus are less common. This condition is more common in teenagers and young adults. It may occur due to a middle ear infection or because of a respiratory infection such as cold.
Swimmer's ear can occur as a result of swimming in unclean or contaminated water. These waters contain pseudomonas and other harmful bacteria, which can lead to such ear infections. The infections are rarely caused by fungus.

Swimmer's ear may also result due to other reasons. They can be:
1. Scratching the inside or outside of the ear.
2. Having something stuck in the ear. When you clean ear wax with cotton swabs or small objects, damage may occur. Using headphone or ear plugs for a long period of time may also cause swimmer's ear.
3. Allergic reaction to some object or anything placed in the ear may also cause Swimmer's ear. These may be hair products or jewelry.
4. Some chronic skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis may also lead to this infection.

Risk factors
There are several factors, which may enhance the risk of getting swimmer's ear. They are as follows:
1. Swimming in water, which has got elevated levels of bacteria. This includes lakes and ponds.
2. People having narrow ear canals are at a more risk of swimmer's ear.
3. Aggressive cleaning and scratching of the ear canal.

Symptoms
The symptoms which indicate swimmer's ear are:
1. tching of the ear canal. This becomes intense as the condition progresses.
2. Redness on the inside parts of the ear, which get more extensive in later stages.
3. Discomfort which worsens by pulling on the outer ear or pushing on the tragus of the front part of the ear.
4. Drainage of a fluid which is clear and odorless. As the condition worsens, there is excessive drainage of fluid along with the discharge of pus.
4. A fullness feeling in the ear and a partial blockage of the ear canal because of swelling and fluids.
5. In advanced stages, fever and swelling of lymph nodes in the neck is indicated. Hearing impairment may occur.

Swimmer's ear is a health condition, which involves the ear. The ear gets inflamed because of a certain bacterial infection. Although it is not a very severe condition, in some cases it can do significant harm.

Causes of Swimmer's Ear

Most people listen to music or their favourite videos while on the move, and they spend a considerable amount of time plugging in the headphones or earphones. If you are concerned about the pros and cons of the headphones and earphones, or rather which one is better, you will have to consider various aspects. These include noise isolation, frequency response, noise cancellation and comfort of wearing.

Earphones are devices which are worn on the pinna or the internal part of the ear. This device is also referred to as earbuds, in-ears, canal phones, buds, in-ear headphones, IEMs.

Headphones are equipment worn on or around the ear. These are not considered as handy as the earphones and are also known as ear speakers. Let s evaluate the pros and cons of these two devices and choose the one that is better.

Frequency response curve: This helps in assessing how much distortion is brought about by the devices which relate to the clarity. They should be able to respond equally well to all the pitches without transmitting any frequency more loudly than another. This suggests that the frequency you are receiving should be exactly similar to what has been fed in regardless of the frequency ranges. Typically, the earphones have bad frequency response while the headphones tend to have better frequency response. If you are primarily concerned about the noise distortion, then you should opt for headphones.
Noise isolation: By this, it is understood how well does the gear help in isolating other noises than what you are trying to listen. Generally, higher noise isolation is preferred unless you are willing to hear the sounds of the ambience. Better isolation also ensures that your audio would not bother others surrounding you. A rightly fitted pair of earphones would be able to give you the best noise isolation whereas good over-ear headphones would not be able to seal the sound from going out.
Noise cancellation: Noise cancellation is entirely different from the noise isolation. In the process of noise isolation, the atmospheric sounds which intrude in are reproduced and inverted. This is an excellent feature especially when you are travelling through public transportation or walking down the street. When it comes to earphones, the noise cancellation feature is are not as effective as headphones unless you buy any of the high end pieces. But the headphones are far better in cancelling the noises that are constantly playing in the backdrop.
Judging from all these aspects, the headphones tend to be a better purchase than the earphones, and they are also much more comfortable. Still, it boils down to personal preference at the end. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a general physician.

Earphones Vs Headphones - Which Is Better?

What are the causes and symptoms of ear discharge?

Ear discharge is the phenomenon of fluids being expelled from the ear. This condition is also known as otorrhea. 

The kinds of fluids that can be discharged from the ear range from blood to pus and other forms of bodily secretions. It is caused by a number of factors, which determine the exact nature of the condition and the diagnosis for treatment. 

What are the causes of ear discharge?
Some forms of ear discharge are natural, such as ear wax which is produced by the body as a form of defense against external particles that may enter the ears. Other forms are unnatural and result from anomalies in the health system. 
The causes of these include the following.

Infections: This is the most common cause of ear discharge and occurs when bacteria and viruses infect the inside of the ear and lead to the secretion of fluids, which builds up in the middle ear or at the eardrum.

Swimmer's ear: This condition is also known as otitis externa and is caused by staying in the water for prolonged periods. It results from excessive exposure to moisture that makes the walls of the ear canal to breakdown allowing bacteria and fungi to enter and infect the ear.

- Trauma: Excess pressure on the eardrum can cause it to rupture and discharge fluids. This happens due to a number of reasons such as exposure to loud explosive sounds or pressure from flying in aircraft and scuba diving.

- Skull injury: Damage to the bones behind the ear as a result of an injury can also lead to ear discharge due to infection.

-Tonsillitis: Inflammation of tonsils may cause pain or a repeated infection in the ear leading to fluid discharge.

What are the symptoms associated with ear discharge?
Some of the symptoms of otorrhea are as follows:
- Abnormal and unusual secretion of fluids from the ear
- Swelling of the ear
- Partial or complete loss of hearing
- Pain and throbbing in the ear
- Accompanying signs such as fever and migraine

Diagnosis and treatment of the problem depend on the exact cause and nature of the condition, which also determines treatment and recovery time.



Why Do You Get an EAR Discharge?

Impact of drinking water in plastic bottles

We store water in all sorts of plastic bottles, jugs or containers. It can be low grade or high grade, but plastic is plastic! This is a very harmful daily practice as plastic containers carry lot of chemicals and bacteria. 

Let s see the harmful effects of drinking water in plastic bottles:

1. Harmful substances: Apart from harmful chemicals in plastic, water when get stored in plastic bottles also produces harmful substances like fluoride, arsenic and aluminium which can be poison for human body. So, drinking water from plastic bottles would mean drinking slow poison that will slowly and steadily deteriorate your health.

2. Dioxin production: Plastic does melt in hot environment. And we, often store water in plastic bottles while driving and so many times leave it in the car where it is in the direct exposure of sun. Such heating releases a toxin called Dioxin which when consumed can accelerate breast cancer.

3. BPA generation: Biphenyl A is an estrogen-mimicking chemical which can lead to lot of health problems like diabetes, obesity, fertility problems, behavioural problems and early puberty in girls. It s better not to store and drink water from a plastic bottle.

4. Liver cancer and reduced sperm count: Because of presence of a chemical called phthalates in plastic, drinking water from plastic bottles can also lead to liver cancer and reduction in sperm count.

5. Vitamin based bottled water: Nowadays, we get water mostly in plastic bottles and to increase its health content, manufacturers make it vitamin-enriched to attract buyers. But this is even more harmful as it carries health-harming additives like food dyes and high fructose corn syrup.

6. Impact on immune system: Our immune system is immensely affected when we drink water in plastic bottles. The chemicals from plastic bottles are ingested and tend to  disturb our body s immune system.

If you would like to consult with me privately, please click on 'Consult'.

Nothing s more dangerous than drinking water in plastic bottles!

Health benefits: Red Chilli vs Green Chilli

Chilies have always been known as ingredients that add spice to indian food. Without chilies, any indian food cuisine is incomplete. Both have distinct tastes and also have different health benefits. Here's a comparison between the two:

Red Chilli: Red chilies are dried and then used in food a preparation. It is spicier or hotter than green chilies.

1. Source of iron absorption - Red chilies contain a good proportion of iron which is very good for blood health. They also have a lot of vitamin c that helps the body in absorbing iron
2. Burns calories - They produce heat in the body that directly burns down calories, just like heat generated due to exercise
3. Relieves from congestion - In india red chilies are provided to a person for consumption when he is suffering from cold. It relieves congestion and helps is better respiration
4. Reduces blockage in arteries - They are very powerful antioxidants that clear any blockages in the arteries or blood vessels.

Green Chilli: Green chilies are more subtle in taste and are used as fresh spices in various food preparations.

1. Manages blood sugar levels - Green chilies tackle high blood sugar levels and control it if consumed regularly
2. Promotes digestion - Owing to the various fibers found in them, they help in better digestion
3. Good for skin - Green chilies being rich in vitamin e is a very good spice for a clean and healthy skin
4. Very good for heart - Due to a considerable proportion of beta-carotene in green chilies the cardiovascular systems stays strong and the heart too stays healthy
Both chilies have great benefits and consuming both in permitted quantities is only good for health.

If you would like to consult with me privately, please click on Consult.

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Red Chili Vs Green Chili : What's Hot?

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