7 Things Ear Doctors Never, Ever Do

It’s easy to take your hearing and ear health for granted. But the reality is that many seemingly harmless behaviors can do irreversible damage.

To make matters more complicated, the negative impact of these actions may take years to manifest. Fortunately, there are ways to keep your ears healthy as you age.

HuffPost asked doctors who specialize in this area to share the things they never do in the interest of their ear health. Read on for the behaviors they avoid.

“I never leave the house without a pair of ear plugs in my purse,” Dr. Maura Cosetti, director of the Ear Institute of New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, told HuffPost. “While it may be easier to remember ear protection when going to something like an indoor concert, there are many situations in which we are unexpectedly exposed to loud, and potentially damaging, noise.”

She emphasized that noise-induced hearing loss is very common and cannot be reversed. That’s why prevention is key to maintaining hearing health and longevity.

“Whether it is attending a concert or a sporting event, operating heavy machinery, or shooting a firearm, I would always recommend the use of hearing protection,” said Dr. Kenny Lin, an ENT-otolaryngologist at Houston Methodist Hospital. “Protecting our ears against loud noise exposures is the most important modifiable factor to protect our hearing against noise-induced hearing loss. I keep concert earplugs in the glove compartment of my car so that they are readily accessible when I find myself at an event that may be uncomfortably loud.”

“I would never fly if I had a stuffy nose without using a decongestant or special air travel ear plugs,” said Dr. Bradley B. Block, an otolaryngologist and host of the “Physician’s Guide to Doctoring” podcast. “Flying with a stuffy nose can make it hard to equalize, or ‘pop,’ the ears, so when the plane is descending, it could be very painful and lead to fluid in the ear or ruptured ear drums.”

Indeed, flying while congested can exacerbate the symptoms of “airplane ear” because parts of the ear aren’t functioning as well. So if you can’t avoid flying, be sure to use a decongestant to improve nasal function. Just be sure to take the correct dosage to keep you protected for the full duration of the flight.

Block also advised purchasing travel-specific ear plugs, which have filters that limit the amount of air flowing through your ears to give them more time to adjust to changes in pressure.

Otolaryngologist Dr. Sreekant Cherukuri said he’d never ignores hearing loss. While sudden changes in hearing might signal another issue, hearing loss that occurs more gradually over time should still be addressed, as well.

“Numerous studies have linked untreated hearing loss to higher risk of depression, anxiety, social isolation, and increased risk of falls,” Cherukuri said.

He also pointed to a Johns Hopkins study that found dementia was 61% more prevalent in those with hearing loss, and that using hearing aids resulted in a 32% lower prevalence of dementia.

“I would never clean my ears,” Block said. “The ears are self-cleaning. The body has a system for making wax and pushing it out, and wax usually will not accumulate if left alone. The purpose of wax is to protect the ears from water, so removing it will leave the ears vulnerable to water damage.”

Indeed, without adequate protective wax, getting water in your ear can lead to a painful infection called otitis externa, or swimmer’s ear.

“Removing wax can also make leave the ears dry, flaky and itchy,” Block said. “Cleaning the ears can also push the wax in, scratch the canal or damage the eardrum.”

If you’re concerned about excess wax buildup in your ear or sudden hearing loss, consult with a doctor, who can check your ears for any issues and help clear them out. And remember: Never stick a Q-tip in your ear.

“Personal listening devices create problems that we’ve been aware of for decades, since the Sony Walkman first came out,” said Dr. Robert Sataloff, a professor and chair of the department of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Drexel University College of Medicine.

“Some of the newer devices have sound limiters, so they can’t damage our ears. However, if you are listening through earbuds and the music is loud enough that the person next to you knows what you’re listening to, it’s potentially dangerous.”

Block said he still uses earbuds, but similarly urged caution.

“One of the advantages of modern headphones and ear buds is that they block out ambient sounds, so we do not need to listen very loudly,” Block said. “However, because powerful speakers are packed into those little devices, I would never listen to headphones or ear buds at full volume.”

“Avoid using inadequate ear protection for the anticipated noise exposure,” Sataloff said. “Ear protectors have a noise reduction rating, or NRR. You want the sound that reaches your eardrums to be under 85 [decibels], so if you’re going to be exposed for a continuous period of time to a sound that’s over 90 or 95 [decibels], then you should be wearing ear protectors.”

He recommended downloading sound level meter apps to measure noise levels to determine what kind of ear protection you might need.

“The apps on cell phones are not quite as accurate as professional sound pressure meters, but they’re close,” Sataloff said. “And if you download two or three of them, you can take a rough idea of what the sound is.”

“Whenever possible, avoid taking drugs, even prescribed drugs, that are ototoxic, meaning they can damage the ears,” Sataloff said. “Most of the drugs that do that cause permanent hearing loss from which people cannot recover.”

Ototoxic medications include certain antibiotics and chemotherapy drugs, which aren’t always the only options on the market, so talk to your doctor about this potential side effect.

“It’s reasonable to ask doctors if a drug is ototoxic and if they are, ask if there are alternatives,” Sataloff recommended. “In some instances, there are.”