Protect Your Ears This Summer!

Hearing is an important human skill that you will likely appreciate being able to use for many years to come. Make sure your present habits don't endanger your future needs by looking after your ears now! Beijing United Family Hospital (BJU) Chair of ENT Dr. Lingyan Mo explains how.  

1. How do hearing tests work?

An audiometer will be used. It can present tones of various frequencies in various intensities (loudness). By having the patient raise their hands (or press buttons) to indicate they have heard the tone, we can measure the softest sound that a client can hear at each frequency in each ear. Usually, a 100 dB noise will cause pain in the ears. 

2. What's the effect of using headphones and earphones on the ear? 

Loud noise can damage our hearing by killing the hair cells in our hearing organs. The extent of damage depends on the length of time of the noise exposure and the loudness of the noise. If the noise is loud enough, hearing will be damaged in a second. But, if the noise is not too loud, the time of noise exposure will determine the degree of hearing loss. Take the regulation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for permissible noise exposure as a reference. According to their recommendations, the exposure time for noise of 85 dB is 16 hours and it is 8 hours for noise of 90 dB. This is also the case for headphone and earphone use. 

To avoid noise-induced hearing loss, shorten your listening time for loud sounds. With respect to hearing protection, it is okay if the volume is in the low and medium range. It is suggested not to listen to portable listening devices in public areas like on buses or the subway. This is because these places are so noisy that you might inadvertently turn the volume of your listening device up very high to a point that can be harmful to your hearing. With respect to ear care, physical contact with the headphones or earphones will make sensitive skin more likely to get infected. 

3. Many young children are exposed to gadgets that can emit loud noises. How do loud noises affect the development of their ears and hearing?

Human hearing becomes fully developed after birth. The mechanism of hearing damage in kids is the same as that of adults. If the noise is uncomfortably loud, it is usually an indicator of a harmful level of noise. 

4. What are symptoms of hearing loss? 

For noise-induced hearing loss, depending on how bad the exposure is, there will be ringing in the ears, muffled hearing, or a feeling of fullness in the ears after the noise exposure. In order not to damaged hearing or to recover from noise-induced hearing loss, it is advised to stay away from loud noise. For mild damage, it usually takes 24 hours to recover. If there is no relief of symptoms after 24 hours, medical intervention is needed. If the damage is severe, the hearing loss may only be partially restored or even irreversible. 

5. This summer, many families will go to the beach and swim. Do you have any tips for keeping ears infection-free this pool season?

It is not a problem for healthy ear canal skin to come into contact with most swimming pools or seawater. However, when there is repetitive physical or chemical irritation, such as scratching or chloride in swimming pool, there will be a greater chance for the canal to get infected by bacteria or even fungi. It is advised to plug up ears when going swimming. 

6. When should you see your ENT specialist?

For noise-induced hearing loss, when there is ringing in the ears, hearing loss, or a feeling of fullness in the ears, and these symptoms persist for more than 24 hours after the noise exposure, an appointment with an ENT specialist is needed. For swimmer’s ear, see your ENT when there is itchiness, blockage, or pain in the ears. 

Dr. Lingyan Mo received her medical degree from Capital University of Medical Sciences (Beijing) in 1990, going on to complete her master’s degree and PhD in Otorhinolaryngology from the same university in 1993 and 2004 respectively. Dr. Mo previously worked at Beijing Tongren Hospital as a resident doctor starting in 1993, and then later as an attending doctor. In 1997 she was trained to become an audiological physician by the Joint China-Australia training program in audiology. After finishing her post-doctorate fellowship on audiology at the University of British Columbia (Canada) in 2005, she continued her work in the ear, nose, and throat (ENT) department of Tongren Hospital, becoming chief audiological physician in 2008.

Dr. Mo has a general ENT background and specializes in diagnosis and intervention for both children and adults of ear and hearing disorders, such as tinnitus, hearing impairment, vertigo, and other conditions. She has published more than 30 papers regarding the management of hearing impairment in Chinese and English.

This article is based on an interview conducted by Time Out Beijing. 

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