If you ever go to sporting events, you may want to pay attention.
Its 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.
Read on for the behaviors they avoid.
They dont leave the house without earplugs.
I never leave the house without a pair of ear plugs in my purse,Dr.
She emphasized that noise-induced hearing loss is very common and cannot be reversed.
Thats why prevention is key to maintaining hearing health and longevity.
Kenny Lin, an ENT-otolaryngologist at Houston Methodist Hospital.
They dont fly while congested without taking precautions.
Block, an otolaryngologist and host of the Physicians Guide to Doctoring podcast.
Indeed, flying while congested can exacerbate the symptoms ofairplane earbecause parts of the ear arent functioning as well.
So if you cant 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.
They dont ignore hearing loss.
Otolaryngologist Dr. Sreekant Cherukuri said hed never ignores hearing loss.
They dont clean their ears.
I would never clean my ears, Block said.
The ears are self-cleaning.
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.
And remember:Never stick a Q-tip in your ear.
They dont listen to loud music and podcasts through earbuds.
Some of the newer devices have sound limiters, so they cant damage our ears.
Block said he still uses earbuds, but similarly urged caution.
They dont use inadequate ear protection.
Avoid using inadequate ear protection for the anticipated noise exposure, Sataloff said.
Ear protectors have anoise reduction rating, or NRR.
They dont take an ototoxic drug if there are alternative options.
Most of the drugs that do that cause permanent hearing loss from which people cannot recover.
In some instances, there are.This article originally appeared onHuffPost.
