Summer in Maine is filled with outdoor fun, whether you’re hiking on the trails or lounging on the coast. You may not be thinking about ear health, but don’t underestimate summer ear health hazards. Weather changes can affect our ears in surprising ways, even affecting our ability to hear.
Keep Your Ears Clean
Hot, humid weather can contribute to the production of earwax, or cerumen. Cerumen is a naturally occurring substance that keeps the ear canal clean and guards against germs, but earwax buildup can cause issues. Earwax buildup can cause an earache, a perforated eardrum or conductive hearing loss.
Usually, cerumen falls out of the ear on its own without any involvement from you, but hot weather and increased sweating can increase earwax production, and wearing earplugs (which we’ll discuss in a moment) or hearing aids may prevent it from falling out. In that case, you may need to clean your ears of earwax.
To do this, do not use a cotton swab. Cotton swabs push the cerumen deeper into the ear and compact it further. Instead, clean the outside of your ear with a washcloth to dislodge any cerumen. Use a saline solution, baby oil or over-the-counter earwax-softening drops to soften and dissolve the blockage or visit a medical professional for in-office earwax removal.
Protect Against Loud Noise
We wrote another blog post last month about hearing protection at spring concerts and festivals, and we want to call attention to this topic again here. Noise-induced hearing loss is a major public health issue and is on the rise, particularly in our loud, modern world. As we discussed in the previous blog, it’s critical that you wear hearing protection, take breaks and mind your proximity to the source of the noise.
The tips we lay out in that blog post don’t just apply to concerts and festivals; you should wear hearing protection whenever you’re involved in a loud summertime activity, such as:
- Enjoying a loud hobby, like motorbiking or shooting firearms
- Watching fireworks
- Attending sports events or other high-energy outdoor events
- Working with power tools or loud machines during yardwork or house projects
Hearing protection is easily available at most general stores and pharmacies, but you may also want to consider custom earplugs made from molds of your ears to ensure a superior fit and hearing protection. Call us to learn more about them!
Prevent Swimmer’s Ear
An outer ear infection occurs when the outer ear—the area between the opening of the ear canal and the eardrum—becomes infected, usually due to moisture stuck in the ear. Bacteria grow in this water buildup. This kind of infection is colloquially known as “swimmer’s ear” because it often occurs after swimming.
You can prevent swimmer’s ear by wearing earplugs or a swim cap whenever you’re in the water to keep water out of your ears and drying your ears thoroughly after every dip in the water. If you feel water stuck in the ear canal, try to drain it out by tilting your head to the side and pulling on your earlobe and working your jaw.
Hearing Health Checkup
If it’s been a while since your last ear and hearing examination, now is a great time to get caught up. You want to enjoy all the sounds that summer has to offer and be fully engaged with your friends and loved ones. Contact Waterville Audiology today to schedule a hearing health checkup.