The cold winter weather is well known for causing chapped lips and rosy cheeks. However, one wrath of the winter weather that isn't talked about enough is its ability to impact your hearing. Without proper ear care, you can find yourself dealing with inadvertent hearing issues.

How Cold Weather Affects Your Ears?

If you've ever noticed after being outside for a little bit of time, your ears and nose tend to be the first parts of your body that get incredibly cold. This is because these areas are made mainly of cartilage and don't have insulating fat to keep them warm. With a lack of protection from the bitter cold, your ears can chill down extremely quickly.

The lack of blood circulation to the inner ear due to the cold weather can cause pain. Most sufferers will describe the pain as an intense pain impulse felt in their inner ear. The nerves inside your inner ear are very susceptible to cold weather as they're usually unprotected.

How Can Cold Weather Affect Your Hearing?

It's crucial to realize that spending a great deal of time in the cold weather without adequate ear protection could result in problems that lead to hearing loss. For example, when your ears are constantly exposed to the cold weather, your body will react to help mitigate that problem going into the future.

Over time, this can lead to bone growth development in the ear canal that is intended to block out the cold weather. This is medically known as exostosis. Unfortunately, this blockage can also block out sound waves and make them difficult to hear. This is a widely noted problem for those who participate in winter sports like skiing without adequate ear protection.

Tips to Keep Your Ears Safe This Winter Season

One of the best ways to eliminate your risk of developing permanent hearing loss due to cold weather is to wear proper ear protection. While 59 degrees may seem still relatively warm, it's not for your ears. This is the temperature at which you should consider wearing ear protection as the blood vessels in your ears will start to constrict from the cold weather if you don't.

It would be best if you opted for wearing earmuffs, a hat with ear covers, or something similar that can create a barrier between your ears and the cold weather. Avoid using any type of protection that physically goes into the ear, as this can lead to infections. If your ear protection gets wet at any point in time, you should switch it out. You don't want excess moisture getting into your ear canals as that can lead to unwanted infections.

Contact Us Today

If you feel that you're suffering from hearing loss, it's time to get a free evaluation from one of our skilled hearing specialists. They can assist you in determining the right hearing aids to help you get back to enjoying communication as it was meant to be.

Resources:
https://www.medexpress.com/blog/workplace-wellness/why-you-need-to-keep-your-ears-warm-this-winter.html
https://www.beltone.com/en-us/blog/2017/november/relationship-between-winter--hearing-loss#:~:text=According%20to%20new%20research%2C%20hearing,with%20hardening%20of%20ear%20wax.