Dr. Partham Khushi

It is that time of the year when insects are all around. Suddenly one feels a buzzing sound or an itchy feel in the ear. To your horror, one feels a live insect is in your ear, which can be extremely annoying and is like a nightmare. Insects often get stuck when they enter our ears as they cannot fly or crawl out. They try to find their way out and their movements inside our ears can be very uncomfortable, painful and can be itchy as well. Moreover, they can easily produce infection.

In this scenario, do not try to remove an insect with cotton swab, tweezers or hair clip as it will make the situation worse and can lodge the insect deeper into the ear canal, which can possibly damag the eardrum, leading to permanent hearing loss. If an individual is not certain about the potential harm taht can be caused by the insect in the ear, one should seek medical care immediately. Insects in the ear are common reasons for visits to doctor's clinic, especially in children.

If one suspects an insect in ear, one may experience pain, swelling, blood or crackling. One may even feel biting, stinging, hearing loss or dizziness. It is best to stay calm in this situation as being active may lodge the bug further in ear or cause it to move further back or cause serious damage to the sensitive eardrum

One way to try to remove a bug in ear is by tilting the ear toward the ground and attempt to wiggle the ear. Grasp the earlobe and give it a wiggle. If the bug is not too far into ear canal, it may fall out on its own. If the bug is still alive and is not too far inside of the ear canal, it may simply come out on its own. If one stays calm and keep objects including fingers away from ears, it is likely that the bug will find its way back out of ear.

One can also try to flush the ear with warm water with a dropper or a bulb syringe. This can be done by holding head upright and stretching the ear canal by pulling the outer ear and then putting a steady stream of warm water into ear. Tilt head to the side to drain out the ear. Do not try this if one suspects that ear drum has been ruptured to prevent additional damage.

To avoid stinging or eardrum rupture from scratching or biting , one may use a drop or two of mineral, baby, or olive oil inside your ear canal to kill the insect. Finally, visit an ENT specialist doctor as they can remove the insect by special suction devices. Post insect removal, one must look out for signs of infection as swelling, dizziness, hearing loss, fever, and pain. Finally follow up with ENT specialist or Otolaryngologist for the final opinion.

Did you know your earphones are making you deaf? Here's how.

Fact: Roughly 1.1 billion people worldwide within the age group of 12-35 have been found to be at an increased risk of developing hearing problems.

Listening to loud music on handheld devices using earphones has become a common trend among youngsters these days. You might find it very relaxing to plug in your earphones and escape into your own world of music, but you need to know that this can cause serious damage to your ears. The worst part: you won't realise your ears are being damaged until it's too late.

So, exactly how is loud music damaging your ears?

Continuous exposure to loud music from earphones or other sources results in a medical condition known as Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL), which can be associated with irreversible damage to the ears resulting in deafness.

When you hear loud music for a considerable amount of time every day it affects your hair cells (nerve cells responsible for sending sound signals to the brain) negatively, so that their ability to respond to sound decreases. If this keeps on happening for many months, eventually the hair cells are damaged beyond repair. These cells cannot be regenerated, making you permanently deaf.

How loud is too loud?

If your ears are exposed to sounds at 95, 100, 105, 110 and 115 dB (decibel, the unit used for measuring sound) for 4 hours, 2 hours, 1 hour, 30 minutes and 15 minutes each day respectively, your ears are at risk of getting severely damaged. Also, playing music at 120 dB or above can damage your ears instantly. You can have a realistic idea about the relation between decibels and sounds you commonly hear by referring to this list:

1. 30 dB: soft whisper
2. 75 dB: busy traffic
3. 90 dB: noise of a motorcycle at 25 feet
4. 100 dB: noise of a farm tractor
5. 140 dB: jet plane taking off

Moreover, if you experience the following symptoms regularly, there's a high chance that you need to get your ears treated soon:

1. A ringing sound in your ears when you are at a quiet place, which vanishes after a few minutes
2. You need to raise the volume of TV or music to the fullest to hear it properly
3. You have difficulty in hearing people talking at a distance of just 3 feet

Tips For Safer Listening

1. Use earplugs: The louder the noise and the longer you're exposed to it, the greater the chance of damaging your hearing. Protect your ears with ear protectors – earplugs or earmuffs – and get away from the noise as quickly or as often as you can. 
2. Turn down the music: Don't listen to your personal music player at very high volumes and never to drown out background noise. If the music is uncomfortable for you to listen to, or you can’t hear external sounds when you’ve got your headphones on, then it's too loud. It's also too loud if the person next to you can hear the music from your headphones.
3. Use the 60:60 rule: To enjoy music from your MP3 player safely, listen to your music at 60% of the maximum volume for no more than 60 minutes a day. 
4. Wear headphones: When listening to your personal music player, choose noise-cancelling headphones, or go retro with older muff-type headphones. Ear-bud style headphones and in-the-ear headphones are less effective at drowning out background noise. 
5. Turn down the dial: Turn down the volume on your TV, radio or hi-fi a notch. Even a small reduction in volume can make a big difference to the risk of damage to your hearing. 
6. Use earplugs when you’re listening to live music: They can reduce average sound levels by between 15 and 35 decibels. They’re widely available at many live music venues and shouldn’t spoil your enjoyment of the music.
7. Don't put up with work noise: If you’re experiencing noise at work, talk to your human resources (HR) department or your manager and ask for advice on reducing the noise and getting hearing protection.
8. Wear ear protectors: Wear ear protectors (earplugs or earmuffs) if you are using noisy equipment such as power drills, saws, sanders or lawn mowers.
9. Be careful in the car: Listening to music in a confined space increases the risk of hearing damage. Don’t listen to music too loud for too long.
10. Have a hearing detox: Give your ears time to recover after they’ve been exposed to loud noise. According to Action on Hearing Loss, you need at least 16 hours of rest for your ears to recover after spending around two hours in 100dB sound, for example in a club. Reducing this recovery time increases the risk of permanent deafness. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult an ENT specialist.

Hearing health has come a long way in the last 10 years, yet there are still a lot of misconceptions about hearing loss. Do you think hearing loss only affects the elderly? or maybe you believe your primary care physician can tell you if you have a hearing loss during a routine physical. Do you believe hearing aids will give you back normal hearing or that your health won't be affected if you have hearing loss in just one ear? how about this myth: hearing loss is a consequence of aging - and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

If you recognize your school of thought when you read any of these five myths, it's time to change your perspective. There's no reason misconceptions should stand in the way of hearing your best.

1)Hearing loss only affects the elderly.

In fact, teens and young adults are at risk for developing a very preventable type of hearing loss. Noise-induced hearing loss (nihl) is one of the most common causes of hearing loss, affecting approximately 26 million americans between the ages of 20 and 69. According to the centers for disease control and prevention (cdc), as many as 16 percent of teens age 12 to 19 have reported some hearing loss which may be caused by loud noise. Approximately 20 percent of americans - around 48 million americans - report some degree of hearing loss. Additionally, hearing loss occurs in five out of every 1, 000 newborns each year in the united states. Hearing loss can be caused by any number of factors: ototoxic medication, environmental factors, disease or genetics. In some cases, the cause of hearing loss is simply unknown.

2) My primary physician will tell me if my hearing is failing.

The last time you went for a physical, did your doctor perform a hearing test on you? chances are he or she didn't, because very few doctors do. Your doctor relies on you to bring any health problems to light just as much as you rely on your doctor to do the same. Since your general practitioner is only so well-versed in specific areas of the body, you should have your hearing checked routinely by a hearing health practitioner, just as you have your vision checked or your teeth cleaned.

Hearing health professionals are specifically educated and trained to administer hearing tests, diagnose hearing loss and prescribe treatment. If you notice your hearing has diminished, find a hearing healthcare professional in your area and make an appointment. At the very least, you will have established a relationship with someone you trust who now has a baseline of how well you hear. If you visit them annually, just like you do your primary care physician, they'll be able to detect any hearing loss as it occurs.

3) I notice a difference in one ear, but the other is fine so I'm ok.

Your brain is a thing of wonder. If the hearing in one ear starts to fade, your brain will adapt to the changes, at least up to a certain point. Your hearing loss could be well-advanced before you even notice a difference. There are countless stories of people who were oblivious to the extent of their hearing loss before they finally admitted they needed hearing aids. A regular hearing test can help track your hearing capability.

Here's another brain fact. Your brain is so involved with your sense of hearing, it can 'forget' how to hear certain sounds if the auditory pathways become damaged and hearing loss is untreated. That's one of the reasons why it's important not only to have your hearing checked regularly, but to seek treatment once hearing loss has been diagnosed.

Untreated hearing loss has also been associated with dementia, social isolation, depression and anxiety - other good reasons to see your hearing healthcare professional as soon as you notice you are not hearing well.

4) Hearing aids will restore my hearing to normal levels.

Today's hearing aids are technological marvels. Their sensitive microphones can focus on speech while tuning out background noise, they can be programmed with the touch of a smartphone, and they work in tandem with many other personal electronic devices in our lives. The one thing hearing aids can't do; however, is restore your hearing to 'normal.' as much as we've learned about how our sense of hearing works, there is no man-made device that can completely replicate human hearing.

The good news? hearing aids can significantly improve your ability to hear well, which leads to enhanced communication with family, friends and co-workers. The key is to work closely with your hearing healthcare professional to make sure your hearing aids help you hear your best in each of your personal listening environments.

5) My hearing loss cannot be helped.

Have you asked a hearing health practitioner about your hearing loss? many forms of hearing loss can indeed be improved, whether it be by hearing aids, surgery, medication or a simple ear wax removal procedure. You'll never know if you never ask. And, if it's been a few years since you've seen a hearing healthcare professional, consider making another appointment. The field of hearing health is rapidly changing. Hearing loss that was difficult to address even a few years ago may be treatable now.

The partial or total inability to hear is known as hearing impairment or hearing loss. It can be present at birth, or develop later in life.

There are a number of factors, which may cause hearing loss

1. Age - Age is the biggest factor when it comes to the loss of hearing, and you may lose the ability to hear as you age. This condition is known as presbycusis. It becomes difficult to understand high-frequency sounds like that of a child or a woman when you get old.

2. Noise - When you are exposed to loud noises for a prolonged period of time, it damages your ears. This leads to loss of hearing. 5% of the total population of the world is affected by noise (the degree of suffering varies). It may be a result of continuous exposure to loud music or a sudden exposure to a loud noise like an explosion.

3. Hereditary disorders - Hearing disorder may be inherited by the dominant or recessive genes of parents in the child. 70-80% of these cases inherit from the recessive genes, whereas 20-25% inherit hearing loss from the dominant genes.

4. Trauma - Serious injuries of the head/ears may cause loss of hearing, which may be either temporary or permanent. When damage is caused to the brain, the brain fails to process the message conveyed by the ears. So even if the ears are totally functional, a person may face the problem in hearing.

5. Perinatal problems - The ototoxic effects on the fetus due to excess intake of alcohol during pregnancy lead to hearing the loss in about 64% of the infants born to alcoholic mothers.

Also, premature birth can be associated with hearing loss due to high risk of being exposed to noise in neonatal units.

Knowing about the causes of hearing loss can lead you a step closer to preventing this disorder as you age.

Here are some useful tips that can help prevent hearing loss:

1. Be more aware - You should be diligent and aware of the situations, which may risk your hearing ability and should try to avoid such situations as much as possible. Limit your exposure to sources of hazardous noises like firearms, firecrackers, concerts and clubs.

2. Take precautionary measures - If your occupation calls for working at an environment of loud noises, use earplugs or earmuffs to block out the excessive noise. Also, make sure that you work in a place where employers take all the necessary measures of noise control under the federal or state regulations.

3. Monitor your use of gadgets - Monitor and control the use of hearing devices, and try to reduce the use of headphones/ earphones as much as possible.

'Consult'.

Related Tip: Why Do You Get an EAR Discharge?