Does your ear feel swollen and painful? You might have an infection and it might be because of your earphones. Does that mean you need to throw away your headphones? No! You can keep listening to your favourite songs and avoid this type of infection. How?
Interestingly, you can avoid this pesky problem by cleaning your headphones and wearing open-ear headphones - this revolutionary design leads to less ear infections.
So, read on to learn more about these two ideas and even learn how to get rid of ear infection!
Understanding Ear Infections
Infections can occur anywhere in your body, yet one in the ear can be extremely uncomfortable. To understand why they are painful, we will explain how they affect your body. This will also help you understand how you can prevent them.
What Causes Ear Infections?
Fungus, bacteria, and viruses can all cause an ear infection. So, if you have an infection there, it means that one of them has propagated in your ear. This may have happened in the following ways:
Lack of airflowExcess humidityCompressed earwaxCatching a coldCleft palletSweat
According to reports, you are likely to have the following symptoms when you have this infection:
Pain/itchiness in or around the earSwelling of the ear and/or its surroundingReduced hearingHearing ringing or buzzingLoss of balanceVomitingFeverDischarge from the earRedness behind the earItchiness near or on the earBlisters near or on the ear
How to Treat Ear Infections Home
Generally, you should ask a general practitioner to verify the severity of your infection. Usually, it is an infection around the outer ear that requires treatment, such as professional cleaning. Alternatively, your general practitioner may prescribe the following medicine to show you how to get rid of ear infection:
Antibacterial or anti-fungal ear dropsSteroidsPainkillersAntihistaminesAnti-nausea product
Note: You should always go see a doctor if you feel pain, your ear or its surroundings are red, or there is swelling in the area.
Tips for Preventing Ear Infections
This type of infection is something you can prevent in most cases with hygiene practices and proper protection. You should use the following tips to minimise the risk of this kind of infection:
- Do not insert anything in your ears: When you insert something ― including q-tips ― you can damage the tissue there, causing an infection.
- Avoid swimming in dirty water: You should not swim in dirty water since it is more likely to contain harmful bacteria.
- Practice good hygiene habits: This will reduce the number of times you catch a cold, which in turn reduces the risk of an ear infection.
- Dry your ears thoroughly: After swimming or bathing, you should dry your ears thoroughly.
Cleaning Earbuds for Better Ear Health
A clean earbud not only looks better but is also healthier for you. To better understand why, let's dive deeper into the importance of clean earbuds.
Why Clean Earbuds Matter?
Clean earbuds are essential to prevent an ear infection. When you clean an earbud, you remove bacteria. In addition, cleaning your earbuds also removes ear wax that might cling to them. It is critical that you remove this wax because if it remains, it can re-enter your ear and cause a buildup that could lead to an infection.
Step-by-Step Guide to Cleaning Your Earbuds
Since clean earbuds are important to preventing infections in or around your ears, you should learn how to do it efficiently.
The following are steps on how to clean earbuds:
- Soak ear-tips: To start cleaning your earbuds, you first need to remove them and soak them in hydrogen peroxide for 5 minutes.
- Wipe your earbuds: After soaking the tips (or if you have no ear-tips), wipe the earbuds. You can use a damp microfiber or use a soft brush.
- Use soap: Finally, you should use a mixture of water and dish washing liquid on a microfiber cloth if they are still very dirty.
Best Practices for Earbud Hygiene
If you wish to continue using earbuds, you should go about it in a safe way. This means you should use the following best practices:
- Clean your earbuds frequently: You should clean your earbuds after 72 hours of wearing them or at least once a week to minimise bacterial and fungal growth.
- Avoid sharing earbuds: By refusing to share your earbuds, you can avoid picking up bacteria from someone else's ear.
- Let your ears breathe: Do not cover your ears for prologued periods of time.
The Advantages of Open-Ear Headphones for Ear Health
One way you can reduce the number of infections you get in your ears is to wear open-ear headphones instead of the other kinds. Let us dive deeper into their design to discover what makes them so much better.
What Are Open-Ear Headphones?
Open-ear headphones do not cover the ear. Instead, they may use bone conduction technology to transfer sound through your head. This frees your ears, allowing them to expel ear wax naturally and avoid excess humidity.
Benefits for Ear Health and Comfort
Open-ear headphones are better for your health and comfort because their design ensures good airflow in your ear canal, limiting humidity and ear blockage. Plus, the headphones rest against your head. Beyond preventing an ear infection, open-ear headphones are also much more comfortable than other designs.
Safer Alternative to Traditional Earbuds
The open-ear earbuds are safer than traditional ones since they are less likely to cause an ear infection. This is mostly because the traditional earbud enters the ear canal. This means that it pushes earwax in, prevents airflow, traps humidity, and can even scratch the inside skin.
By comparison, the open-ear design is much more gentle on your ears. As an example, let us consider OpenFit earbuds. These are earbuds that use bone conduction technology to transfer sound. So, they allow your ears to retain a natural humidity level. Plus, they are low weight and have an ergonomic shape, making them comfortable to wear for long periods of time.
Alternatively, you may consider the OpenFit Air earbuds. They also have an open ear design that allows good airflow through your ears. In addition, this design allows your ear wax to naturally move out of your ear. This reduces the risk of infections while keeping a good grip on your ear.
Wrapping up
As is evident from our discussion, it is critical that you prevent infections in your ear by learning how to clean earbuds. These infections can have severe symptoms that can even affect your daily life. So, it is essential that you clean your earbuds every week with hydrogen peroxide or dishwashing liquid.
Although you now know how to clean your earbuds, you are better off using headphones with a non-intrusive design, like open-ear headphones. These headphones produce clear sounds yet leave your ears completely open, reducing your chances of catching an infection.
Get the best open-ear earbuds from Shokz: OpenFit and OpenFit Air!
