3 Things You Can Do To Promote Better Hearing Health During Winter

Even if you aren't hearing impaired or using a hearing aid, it's in your best interest to manage your hearing health this winter season. Let's talk about how you can do that. Here are a few steps you can take to promote better hearing health this winter.

In addition to potentially damaging the sensitive electronics in your hearing aid, prolonged exposure to extreme cold can actually cause damage to the ear itself. We've all experienced temperature-related tinnitus at one point or another. Per the United States National Library of Medicine, cold weather can also aggravate other pre-existing conditions associated with hearing impairment such as Ménière’s Disease.

It can also increase the risk of an ear infection. With all this in mind, if you have to go out in winter weather, bundle up. Get a hat that covers your ears, or invest in a pair of warm earmuffs. 

Wear them when you go out. 

We already know that excessive moisture can be bad for the ears. In winter, it's a whole lot worse. Moisture trapped in the ear can freeze, leading to a whole lot of extreme unpleasantness.

Most commonly, this can manifest as a condition known as Surfer's Ear. Basically, this happens when water and debris get trapped in the ear canal — such as through freezing. In response, the ear starts to develop a series of small growths of bone which can only be removed through surgery.

Fortunately, avoiding this is easy enough. Simply make sure your ears are properly dried before you go out. Avoid staying out in cold, wet conditions any longer than you absolutely have to. 

If you use a hearing aid, you're already at a higher risk of excessive earwax growth. Winter weather can make that even worse, with the earwax effectively growing and hardening out of control. Fortunately, this can be treated in the same way one would generally treat an ear blockage. 

While you can clean your ears on your own at home, more severe cases of hardened earwax may require a visit to a professional audiologist. If that ends up being what you require, Connect Hearing can help. We can get you connected with a professional for not just ear cleaning, but also a full hearing test.

Contact us today for a free consultation.