Look out for your hearing health during this sneezy time of year.
Did you know that allergies can affect your hearing? Many people associate allergies with stuffy noses and itchy throats, but seasonal allergies can also impact your ears!
Managing ear-related allergy symptoms is essential for everyone, but especially for people who already have some level of hearing loss, since allergies can lead to your ears feeling clogged and your hearing feeling even more muffled. Additional ear-related allergy symptoms include itching inside of your ear canal, chronic ear infection, dizziness, and ringing in your ears.
Here are some tips on how to protect your ears during allergy season:
- Take an antihistamine to relieve ear pressure
- Dry your ears after a shower, bath, rainstorm, or humidity surge
- Keep your devices clean and dry
- Adjust your diet to minimize fluid retention
- Contact your doctor with any sign of infection or discomfort
When you take special care of your ears during allergy season, you can help prevent more severe problems down the road. Read on to learn more about each one of these tips!
Take an antihistamine to relieve ear pressure
Some people’s ears are more affected by seasonal allergies than others. Allergies can cause swelling of the ear canal or outer ear, making it harder to hear with voices or noises sounding distant or muffled.
If you experience this, talk to your doctor or audiologist about taking over-the-counter antihistamines to treat your clogged ears symptoms.
Dry your ears after a shower, bath, rainstorm, or humidity surge
With allergy season comes warmer weather, and with warmer weather comes humidity and sweat. Moisture can build up inside your ears and get trapped, creating an infection or muffling your hearing.
Each time you come in from spending time outside in the humidity or rain, or after taking a shower or bath, be sure to dry your ears. Take special care not to use a cotton swab. Instead, tilt your head to one side and dry your ears with a towel.
Keep your devices clean and dry
If you use hearing aids, assistive listening devices, or any type of ear protection, be sure to keep them clean and dry to protect them from moisture and pollen. Use a hearing aid dryer or cleaning kit to make sure no moisture or debris gets left behind, damaging your devices.
Adjust your diet to minimize fluid retention
Choosing a diet that is low in sodium will reduce fluid retention in your body, which can relieve that clogged feeling in your ears. You can also eat foods that will naturally flush fluids from your body, such as grapes, asparagus, watermelon, celery, and bell peppers.
Contact your doctor with any sign of infection or discomfort
A big part of knowing how to protect your ears during allergy season is being able to tell when something isn’t quite right, so listen to your body!
When you recognize pain or discomfort that is out of the ordinary, contact your doctor or audiologist to discuss what you’re feeling, and how you can relieve it.
For more hearing health tips and information, keep reading the CapTel blog!
