The great thing about UNICEF days is that, it’s a conscious effort to create awareness about issues plaguing the society. Every 3rd March is celebrated as World Hearing day. The theme for 2023 is ‘Ear and hearing care for all’. This topic is interesting. It alludes that one needs to pay attention to one’s ears and to one’s hearing.
“The World Health Organization estimates that 1 in every 5 individuals — or about 1.5 billion people worldwide — currently live with a hearing loss, the stats are projected to worsen to 1 in 4 persons by the year 2050. Ear and hearing care for all is a message relevant to all age groups, from children to the elderly.”
Common culprits for ear ailments and hearing loss include infections and loud noises. Advancement in technology may have worsened the matter as people now have easy access to antibiotics which has led to the prevalence of antibiotics abuse and consequently drug resistant infections. The use of electronic devices and advanced machinations in today’s society is also a contributory factor to noise pollution.
The main symptoms of ear disease include, hearing loss, discharge from the ear and pain in the ear.
A loss in hearing can present a myriad of problems ranging from inability to communicate with others to inability to function in one’s full potential in the society. One with mild hearing problems is said to be hard of hearing, when the problem is severe, he/she can be said to be deaf. Loss of hearing is a common disability in our society which can be prevented and cured if proper attention is paid to it.
Today, we’ll learn about 10 ways to care for our ears and hearing
1. Ensure that children get vaccinated against rubella, measles, mumps, and meningitis. If you are an adult who was vaccinated in childhood, get your booster shots.
2. Avoid the insertion of foreign objects into your ear for whatever reason. No cotton buds, no Q tips, no matchsticks, no toothpicks, no biro pen covers, no oil, no pins. Please behave yourself! Avoid swimming in dirty or contaminated water. If you really want to clean your ears or handle an itch, use the tip of a clean wash cloth or a tissue wick. As a last resort, see a doctor to remove your build up of ear wax.
3. Protect your ears from loud sounds transmitted through headphones and loud noises in the environment. A good rule of thumb is, if the next person can also hear the music through your headphones, it is too loud. Make use of ear plugs, ear muffs or noise cancelling headphones.
4. Take good care of ear plugs, head phones, stethoscopes. Sharing these devices with others is not advised. Clean reusable ear plugs with a cleaning solution or hydrogen peroxide as recommended by audiologists. Use alcohol wipes to clean stethoscopes. Dry cleaning is advised for your earpieces.
5. Get your prescription drugs from your doctor. Doing so has two advantages. One being that if we all followed this rule we could curb the abuse of antibiotics. The second plus is that you can be informed if a prescribed medication may adversely affect your hearing. Gentamicin for instance, is a common antibiotic found over the counter that may affect one’s hearing.
6. See a doctor for ear infections and other ear problems. An ear doctor is known as an audiologist, an otolaryngologist or an ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor. An ENT doctor has probably seen more ear health challenges than any other specialty doctor. You can ask your general practitioner (GP) doctor, to be referred to an ear doctor.
7. Check your hearing regularly and advise others to get checked as well. See how to check one’s hearing without any equipment using the hearWHO app. Another simple test that can be carried out to assess hearing is the Whispering test.
8. Once hearing loss is diagnosed, begin therapy immediately. Hearing loss in some cases maybe reversible. When irreversible, the use of hearing aids, cochlear implants, captioning, sign language have allowed for affected persons to be able to communicate as needed.
9. Do your part to minimise noise pollution in the environment. No disturbing the neighbours with loud music and generators if you can. Reduce the volume or turn off home electronic devices when not in use. Plant trees in your environs, trees have been shown to be effective sound barriers.
10. Create awareness and education on healthy practices for ear and hearing. An easy way to start is by sharing this article. You can also read up on the World Health Organization’s website on how to create awareness for World hearing day.
A bonus point, please do not slap or hit people on their ears, well, don’t slap or hit them anywhere else either, but emphasis on ears today, as this type of injury could rupture the ear drum, leading to hearing loss.
Finally, the loss of hearing is a disability to many. You can show your consideration to those affected by speaking face to face with them, slowly and clearly. Be ready to repeat yourself when needed. Shouting or talking exaggeratedly does not usually help. Encourage the use of sign language in your local community to allow for inclusivity.
REFERENCES
1. World Health Organization. (2023) Primary ear and hearing care training manual.
