What is swimmers ear?

Swimming and surfing is generally a quiet sport – but it can damage your hearing. It’s the exposure to water that causes the problems.

Swimmer’s ear or Otitis Externa is an infection of the ear canal when too much moisture irritates and breaks down the skin in the canal.

Symptoms include earache, itching or redness in the canal, hearing problems and sometimes an unpleasant smelling discharge.

If you are still having difficulty after you finish the treatment your doctor has prescribed, talk about a referral to a specialist. Water can be a problem in many peoples' ears. If drying your ears after swimming does not provide enough relief, you might want to consider swim plugs. These are custom made plugs just for your ears that would keep the water out.

Many people use them and find them comfortable and effective for keeping ears dry. Ear infections (swimmers ear) will vary in severity and duration. Your doctor is the best person to assess your particular problem and the correct treatment. Most ear infections do not cause permanent damage as long as they are treated in a timely fashion.

Should you use cotton swabs to clean your ears?

When you clean your ears with a cotton swab, you risk damaging your ear drum if the swab goes too far into the ear. A study shows, that more than half of the people who visit ear, throat and nose specialists confess to using cotton swabs to clean their ears. 

A ruptured eardrum, also known as tympanic membrane perforations (TMP), is a tear in the tympanic membrane, which separates the outer ear from the inner ear. A ruptured eardrum may be accompanied by sharp ear pain, an earache, ear drainage, ear ringing or buzzing, dizziness or hearing loss. In severe cases, vertigo and facial paralysis can occur. 

A ruptured eardrum can lead to discomfort, and even though the study showed that most cases healed on their own within two months, surgery can in some cases be required. 

There are many alternatives to clean your ears without damaging them,

For example,

1.Cordless ear wax cleaner safely and easily suctions out wax.

2.Ear candling.

3.Earwax removal aid. 

4.Lighted Ear Wax.

Can a hearing aid help a profoundly deaf person?

A profoundly deaf person does not rely on hearing for communication. The hearing aid cannot compensate for the level of hearing impairment. A hearing aid maintains contact with the hearing environment and allows the patient an awareness of what is going on around them, using auditory clues.

Why do most people dislike loud noise?

Most people do not like loud noise. Some people have particularly sensitive ears, they cannot bear ordinary levels of noise.
Hyper sensitive hearing is most commonly associated with hearing loss.Have you noticed how some older people ask you to speak up a bit. After a while they may ask you to stop shouting or they may say "I'm not deaf".


Loudness discomfort is typically a problem for people that suffer from a sensorinueral hearing loss (A sensorineural hearing loss is caused by damage or a disorder of the inner ear, or of the auditory nerve, nerve fibres going from the inner ear to the brain stem).


However this is not a problem who suffer from a conductive hearing loss(A conductive hearing loss involves the breakdown or obstruction of some part of the external or middle ear which transmits or conducts the physical vibrations of sound through air, bone or tissue.)


As we age, the number of hair cells and nerve fibres that are responsible for picking up in the inner ear is reduced.The ability to grade different intensities of sound is reduced. How do we compensate for this? 
Our brain will "switch on " all remaining nerve fibres to produce almost maximum loudness. As a result, even quite moderate sounds may seem to be unbearably loud.


The dynamic range is narrowed or reduced in the ears: If sounds are heard at all, they are heard as loud noises.


When a person suffers from hearing loss and needs to use hearing instruments, the hearing instruments should not overload the ear with amplified sound. To overcome this, many hearing instruments have "peak clipping". Another more sophisticated form of compression is known as automatic volume control.


Some recent research has shown that in some cases the use of white noise applied to the ear by a white noise generator masker can help.

How do you learn music&song online?

My site is based around the human ear and all it's functions. For the most part I have I have tried to give as much pertinent information as possible relating to when things go wrong with our hearing, such as hearing loss.

However we must not forget that when we have normal hearing we can use it in so many different  

ways.

We listen to music, when we have music our lives are so much more joyful. If you are having a bad day, just put your favourite piece of music and hey presto! the day changes.

Music has the ability to lift us, e.g. just listen to some gospel music, or let your hair down with some good old rock&roll.

Would you like to learn to SING?

Most vocal ranges span two octaves, or 13 to 14 white notes on a piano, although perhaps only one and a half octaves of those will be able to be sung consistently with good quality and pitch.

Singorama is a fantastic way to learn to sing.

How about learn to play the piano at home.

"Discover The Secrets to Quickly & Easily Playing All Your Favorite Songs On The Piano By Ear...

...Using The Same Exact System Thousands Of Musicians Are Using To Play Anything They Hear On The Radio In Just A Few Minutes!

Learn more about how to learn to sing and play music here.

Why should you protect your ears from noise?

The best defense against noise-induced hearing loss is to stay out of hazardous noise areas. But when spending any amount of time in a noisy environment, use hearing protection devices. When used correctly, hearing protection devices (HPDs) help prevent hearing loss. And always remember, that the discomfort of wearing them, if any, is nothing compared to the permanent effects and discomfort of a hearing impairment or a worsened hearing loss.

Using earplugs or earmuffs can be an effective measure to protect your hearing in noisy environments at work or at play. In addition, handcrafted custom-fitted ear molds with filters are available, often at considerable cost, but well worth the price for those who wear hearing protection frequently.

Tactical Ear Protectors ,these are the Listening muffs that help protect against harmful noise while amplifying low level sounds. They are a real plus for shooters with less than perfect hearing. Electronics limits amplified sound to 82 dB. Features include easy storage and portability and they are lightweight (8.8oz). Amplifies low-level sounds up to 19 dB. Stereo microphones enhance sound localization. Independent volume controls are standard on each cup.

They are excellent for hunting applications and for persons with pre-existing hearing loss. Impulse noise attenuated immediately. Features dual stereo volume controls. Wide soft padded headband distributes weight while two-point suspension exerts low pressure for comfortable long-term use. Soft liquid foam-filled ear cushions provide added comfort. Four 1.5 V long life AAA batteries provide 200+ hours of service.

You can find out more here

Hearing aids stimulate brain activity

On average it takes 10 years for a person with a hearing loss to finally do something about it. The first reaction to a hearing loss is to wait for it to go away. This rarely happens.

Untreated hearing loss affects your quality of life, but it also affects the brain's ability to remember common everyday sounds because the hearing channels are no longer effectively used.

When the hearing nerves lose their function and no longer channel sound signals to the brain, the brain "forgets" the sounds over time and becomes unable to understand them.

Memory weakening

The brain centre for hearing stores sounds and noises for up to three years following the onset of hearing loss. But after about seven years the memory becomes weaker and weaker.

Therefore, it is important to have your hearing tested and hearing aids fitted when you find that you are losing some of your hearing. After fitting of hearing aids the hearing process resumes suppling signals to the brain.

Learning to hear again

If you delay the fitting of a hearing aid for any great length of time there could be serious consequences. Even the most tecnically advanced hearing aid may not be able to transform the incoming signal into understandable information. The brain no longer recognizes ordinary everyday sounds and noises, such as the hum of a refrigator or the noise of a computer. The brain must learn to hear all over again.

Improved quality of life

A study published by the Quality of LIfe Research journal indicated that hearing impaired people estimate their hearing to have improved while wearing a  hearing aid does more than help you to hear. A hearing aid improves your quality of life and improves your brain's function.

Most often hearing loss sneaks up on you. Suddenly one day you notice that you no longer hear the humming of the refrigerator or or the bird's singing.

Five improved 100% when treated with hearing aids. This is in contrast to their belief before being fitted with hearing aids that their hearing was inadequate.

The researchers conducting the study asked 98 people with hearing loss how they perceived their quality of life after the fitting of hearing aids. The results of the study confirm that people with hearing loss report improvements in their quality of life when they receive and adapt to hearing aids.

To find out more information on the human ear click here

What happens when the cochlea is damaged?

Cochlea Damage The majority of hearing losses in the world are due to damage caused to the cochlea,(sensori-neural). In nearly all cases the patient will struggle with speech discrimination ( "I can hear your voice but you sound like you are muttering")


This is made even worse in the presence of background noise. The fitting of hearing aids will be beneficial, but simply amplifying sounds will not overcome the problems found in the cochlea. We will now look at the various problems within the cochlea.


Loudness Recruitment


People with cochlea damage need a greater level of sound to hear well, but when sounds get louder they become just as intolerant of loud sounds as people with no hearing impairment. As seen in audiometry, this leaves the patient with a reduced dynamic range. This causes problems with speech discrimination, as the dynamic range of speech is about 50dB i.e. a 50dB intensity difference between the loudest and quietest parts of speech.Someone with a reduced dynamic range may not be able to accommodate the whole range of speech, which could become a problem when a hearing aid is fitted.


A hearing instrument with the ability to adjust the amounts of amplification will provide a better option for patients with a reduced dynamic range.Recruitment is found only in patients with cochlea (hair cell) damage. The term "abnormal growth of loudness" is commonly used and relates to patients perception of loudness throughout their dynamic range.

A full explanation of cochlea damage can be found here.