Updated from 18th April 2010. Revamping an extremely old post. Grooming and taking care of personal hygiene is an important part of looking beautiful and that covers all parts of our body. So, we shall be focussing on how to keep our ears healthy and clean.
So, today, instead of talking about skin or eyes or hair, I would like to focus on Ears. Many people do not realize how to take care of their ears and what precautions they should take to prevent ear infections. Ears are the most taken-for-granted parts of your body. We abuse our ears so much without realizing that we are doing it. One should realize that ears are very sensitive and very much prone to fungal infections. Any wrong thing can cost us our hearing.
- Many people use anything to clean their ears like pencils, pens, keys and even, their fingers unconsciously. Please remember there are things called ear buds which can be used very safely to clean the wax.
- But, there is a limit to using ear buds also. Excessive usage of ear buds can push wax deeper into the ear instead of bringing it out. And, you would end up blocking you ear tunnel which leads to a lot of itching and irritation in the ear and can even impair your hearing abilities.
- Then, there are many ear drops available in the market. They actually help to clean your ears by expanding the wax just as a cake rises when your use baking soda. Thus, bringing the wax on to the surface of the ear. But, these ear drops when used very frequently cause fungal infections in the ear and you could actually end up closing your ear. You can even feel the pressure difference in between both the ears and your hearing ability will suffer temporarily.
- Another thing of concern is excessive of piercings done in the ear or usage of all kinds of artificial jewelery which is made from cheap metals which are toxic to human body. If your skin is too sensitive, you could end up being a very bad case of metal reaction in your ear and it is very painful. And, if the piercings are not done carefully, your ear veins might end up injured and you could again get a reaction in the ear. Too many piercings may be quite cool but are very dangerous in that sense.
How to deal with these issues?
- Always remember that ear wax is an ear protection mechanism to avoid foreign particles and organisms from entering the ear so cleaning up the wax is actually bad for your ear.
- The human body mechanism is such that it forces the wastes out of the body automatically so do not worry that the wax would stay inside and clog up in the tunnel. When enough of wax would accumulate, it is pushed to the surface of the ear. You can clean your ear by wiping your ear with a wet cotton ball (squeeze hard to let out all the water it has soaked so as to avoid water running into your ear).
- Avoid using buds too frequently. Clean your ears once in two weeks or when you feel stickiness on the surface of your ear (whichever is later) and when using the ear buds, make sure you do not dig deep into the ear tunnel but clean only on the surface of the ear.
- Take precautions not to let water enter your ears while taking a shower or during swimming. It is also one of the main reasons for fungal infections in the ear.
