Would You Use Your Earbuds To Press Buttons On An ATM Keypad Before Use?
As our cell phones are an integral part of our everyday lives, earbuds, in-ear headphones, earphones—whatever you call them—are also becoming a vitally necessary part of our lives.
Everyone has a set and we use them all the time. Many of us also use our earbuds for extended periods of time such as in the gym or even for sleeping.
Even though the invention and patent of the earbud dating back to 1891 was designed to improve the personal audio listening experience, there was no consideration much less the awareness of the long term health issues that would arise from the use of the earbud.
The ear consists of a unique blend of it’s own microbial flora. Everyone’s personal inner ear fora is slightly different. The inner ear microflora normally includes strep, staphylococcus and pseudomonas. Normally people carry these types of bacteria without any problems. It’s when bacterial counts rise too high and passes that persons microbial threshold. That’s when an ear infection is eminent.
On another note, ear wax is good and it is a natural process of the human body cleaning itself of germs and dust.
It is this ear wax combined with the earbud that becomes a hygiene problem. Ear wax collected on the surface of the earbud can quickly pickup viruses, bacteria and other germs when dropped into a purse, placed on top of a car seat, dragged across credit cards or cash or touched by unwashed hands.
Imagine using your earbuds as a stylus to press ATM keypads all day and then jamming those same earbuds into your ear. Pretty gross, right?
Earbuds can cause damage to our ears:
- Earbuds carry bacteria and dirt: Since earbuds are small, it’s easy to put them down nearly anywhere. Earbuds will quickly pickup dirt and bacteria since it’s a haven of sticky cerumen (ear wax) film. This scenario is the perfect recipe for an ear infection, rash or allergic reaction.
- Earbuds create internal ear wax impaction. It is a fact that earbuds stimulate ear wax production. Excessive use of earbuds with an increase in wax build-up leads to impacted ear wax inside the ear canal. Ear wax impaction plus bacteria contaminated earbuds are the things that ear infection nightmares are made of.
- Poor earbud hygiene can lead to the risk of pimples, ear infections, boils, ear fungus and more.
You don’t have to part company with your earbuds. Try some of these steps to maintain clean earbuds and clean ear canals.
- Never share your earbuds, even with the one you love the most. Everyone has a microflora but that doesn’t mean their flora is good for your flora. Much like the United States and Mexico has water, You can’t go and drink the water in Mexico and not expect to get sick. We each have different ratios of bacteria in our inner ear microbial flora.
- Make sure your earbuds are clean every time you wear them. Clean them according to your manufacturers instructions and then mist them with any one of your favorite living external probiotic spray products.
- Clean your ears regularly. Follow the directions of your favorite ear cleaning utility such as a cotton swab. Use one of the clear solutions from your external probiotic arsenal such as the Face & Body mist or the Kalos Probiotic Misting Wand. Apply sparingly since every living probiotic solution from Protekt Worldwide is heavily concentrated with living probiotics. Save product and save money, it only takes a little bit to go a long way.
This article contains general information about medical conditions and treatments. The information is not advice and should not be treated as such. The information is not intended to replace the advice or diagnosis of a physician. If you have any specific questions about any medical matter you should consult your doctor or other professional healthcare provider.
Resources:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US454138A/en
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1288/00005537-199201000-00017