5 Important Habits to Improve Your Hearing

Once our hearing is damaged, we cannot reverse it. Instead of looking for a solution after the loss, it’s better to take measures in advance to keep our ears healthy. Adopting the following habits will certainly help in the process.  

1. Keep your ears clean

As we age, the amount of earwax produced in our ears also increases. Since the majority of the people know that too much earwax can muffle sounds, the use of cotton swabs to clean ears has become common. For those who can relate, read carefully!  

Ears are made to self-clean, provided the wax does not harden. Also, a little bit of wax within them is important for preventing dust and other harmful particles from entering the ear canal. Therefore, it is completely inappropriate to insert a cotton swab (or anything for that matter) into the ear canal as it risks damaging the sensitive organs such as the eardrum.  

As for the case of hardened earwax, putting one or two drops of olive oil in the ear overnight will help solve your problem by softening it.  

2. Avoid snoring 

As strange as this may sound, snoring commonly causes noise-induced hearing damage/loss. Within a close range, snoring can reach 90 decibels. This is dangerous for the ears because that sound is louder than a road drill. According to a study conducted at the Queen’s University, Canada, snoring causes hearing loss in the person sleeping with the person who snores.  

Therefore, if you or your partner snores, do not forget to wear earplugs in bed. For the sake of your hearing health, this habit should also be adopted for any kind of loud work environment.  

3. Maintain a healthy diet

In a study of Vanderbilt University, US, the people who consumed foods rich in riboflavin, lycopene, magnesium, vitamin C and vitamin E had healthier hearing compared to people who followed a poor diet. Oily fish also seems to help in protecting, if not improving, the hearing health.  

However, maintaining a healthy diet not only means consuming healthy food but also cutting down on some other food items such as those having saturated fats. High consumption of saturated fats leads to raised cholesterol levels, which in turn accelerates hearing loss due to reduced blood supply to the inner ear.  

4. Exercise regularly  

You may have already heard of the importance of regular exercise for cardiovascular fitness. But you should also know that taking out enough time for exercising in your routine is equally significant for the ears because it increases hearing sensitivity. Wondering what the logic is? Walking, running and other cardio exercises increase the blood flow to all body parts including the ears.  

In addition, you must not listen to loud music in the meanwhile because, according to Swedish scientists, it can increase the chances of damage to ears.  

5. Avoid self-medication  

Last of all, but equally important, it is important to take medications only advised by the doctor. Some medicines such as the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) like aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen etc. are considered to cause hearing problems. Thus, it is extremely important to discuss the medicines you take with your doctor first and consume them only when advised.  

Taking care of your ear health is important to the quality of your life. While the tips above may not fully prevent hearing loss, they will certainly help you keep your hearing in the best health!