Hearing is one of the senses essential for participation in our day to day activities. It helps us to perceive different sounds in our surrounding.
Maintaining ear health is quite important therefore we should be keen on the habits we are indulging in each day.
It is worth noting that once your hearing is damaged, there is no way of getting it back even though hearing aids may help, but the natural hearing will have gone.
Habits that can lead to hearing loss are;
1. Exposure to loud sounds
Exposing your ears to loud sounds either due to the nature of your job or by earphones reduces the ability of the inner ear to convert sound waves to something the mind can interpret.
2. Using cotton swabs
Cotton swabs push the wax found in the ear canal deep into the ear causing impaction. They can also cause abrasions to the ear canal resulting in bleeding, formation of clots and blocked hearing. Puncture of the eardrum can also occur causing immediate hearing loss.
3. Smoking
Nicotine, the chemical found in cigarettes, restricts blood flow to the ears, thus damaging delicate ear cells. This reduces your inner ear's ability to transmit vibrations which in turn reduces your hearing ability. More damage occurs when you smoke more.
4. Sedentary lifestyle
Failure to exercise regularly can lead to obesity and diabetes hence hindering nutrient circulation in the body. This damages hearing since the areas of the brain that interpret sounds are starved vital nutrients.