How to take care of your hearing in winter?

Mother is always right.

Especially when she called after us to "Wear a hat!", and we would complete this sentence with: “…that covers your ears!”. She knew that proper prevention could save us from long-term treatment.

Why is it so important to protect the head, and especially the ears from the cold?

Ears have a lot of nerve endings, and therefore feel the cold much more acutely than other parts of our body. In addition, the wind and frost will irritate the ear canal leaving behind an unpleasant pain in the ear area, and sometimes even the whole head. When enjoying winter sports, be sure to wear ear muffs or a helmet!

Your ears can often become blocked or even temporarily impaired because of the wind. This can lead to sleep and concentration problems. If the body cools down too quickly, ear inflammation can occur. As soon as the wind hits your body, it can change its temperature rapidly. The same phenomenon can occur when the air conditioning fan is directed at us for a longer period of time.

How to treat otitis?

You can start at home. Let's take care of warming up the body. Drink hot tea with addition of honey. It has a beneficial influence on our immunity. Essential oils, with which we make ourselves comfortable in a hot bath, will additionally have a warming and disinfecting effect. You can also apply essential oils near your ears (but do not pour them directly into the ear canal!).

Remember that cold ears should be warmed up gradually. Do not apply anything too hot right away. Instead of being soothed, you can severely burn your ears!
However, when home remedies do not give us the expected effect for two or three days, immediately go to the ENT specialist, as you may need to be treated with antibiotics. A neglected ear infection can result in deterioration or partial loss of hearing!

Did you know that ears freeze not only with sub-zero temperatures outside the window?

You can also get cold ears in cold water! Surfers who swim in cold oceans are a particularly vulnerable group of people. Exostosis, Ossification or “Surfer's Ear” is the result of overproduction of earwax that leads to the formation of an earwax clog. Why does it happen? Ears that are exposed to cold try to prevent heat loss, causing the bone to start overgrowing right next to the ear canal. This in turn leads to a shrinking of the ear canal, and that's what results in the formation of the wax clog.

Wear a hat!

Cover your ears!

Take care of your hearing!