Let’s learn to protect our sense organs; they are our windows to the world! The ear puts us in touch with the rhythm of life, its sounds and vibrations. It can easily catch fire, and the noises it is subject to daily can affect its functionality in the long run.
The ear, a sense organ and more, allow us to perceive frequencies and vibrations, maintain our body’s balance, and balance ourselves in space. From these simple considerations, we can understand how important it is to safeguard the health and well-being of the ear and its functionality
Ear Pathogens
Noise
65 decibels is the safety threshold beyond which we can speak of noise pollution. Intense noises such as sirens, horns, and discos are sources of hearing aggression. Protecting yourself and avoiding it are the primary indications for preventing progressive and permanent damage.
Cotton Buds
Cotton buds are present in all our homes, and we use them daily for ear hygiene. Unfortunately, the use is often clumsy or incorrect because we don’t just clean the excess earwax on the outside but go deeper, thus risking pushing the earwax to the bottom and thus forming the plugs that they must be.
Atmospheric Agents
Cold, rigid temperatures, but above all, the wind can be elements that attack our auditory canal, causing painful contractions. It is always a good idea to protect yourself with a scarf or ear muffs to avoid forms of intense pain and spasm.
Bacteria
In the swimming pool or at sea, some bacteria come into contact with water and are carried into our ears, giving rise to purulent and painful infections and inflammations, such as otitis. In these cases, it is necessary to intervene with specific ointments and antibiotic remedies.
Natural Remedies For The Ear
If our ear is affected by inflammation and we need some “grandmother’s first aid” remedies, we can draw on some natural aids directly from the kitchen at home.
Garlic
It is a powerful bactericide which carries out a protective, antibacterial, antifungal, and immunostimulant action. In case of an earache of an infectious nature, we can squeeze a few cloves of garlic, rich in allicin, and insert 2 or 3 into the ear with a dropper, leave to act for a few minutes and then rinse.
Olive Oil And Ginger
A magical synergy that helps lubricate the ear canal and disinfect it. Warmed olive oil is used with a few drops of freshly squeezed ginger; if we don’t have ginger, we can replace it with garlic. A few drops of the compound thus obtained in the ear perform a soothing action due to the heat, dissolve any hardened earwax accumulations and ginger acts as an antimicrobial and antiviral.
Hot Salt
Heat can be an excellent soothing agent for ear pain, mainly if caused by draughts, stagnant water or hardening of earwax. Coarse salt heated and wrapped in a cloth has the property of spreading heat for a long time and absorbing excess humidity.
Ginkgo Biloba
This powerful plant has innumerable properties, including thinning the blood. In the case of light forms of tinnitus due to microcirculation, it can represent a natural response to the disturbance. We can take Ginkgo in dry extract or hydroalcoholic extract under medical supervision.
Ear Anatomy
To say ear is to summarize in a straightforward way the structure of an organ, which is very complex and consists of three structures: the external ear, the middle ear and the internal ear.
External Ear
Formed by the auricle and the ear canal, it has a peculiar shape which serves to convey and channel sound waves toward the eardrum.
Middle Ear
It is a cavity that houses three small bones, the hammer, the anvil and the stirrup, which transmit sound vibrations. This channel is connected to the pharynx and opens when we swallow or yawn.
Inner Ear
We find this portion in the skull’s bones, and it transforms sound waves into electrical impulses through the acoustic nerve. The inner ear also contains the labyrinth that governs our balance.