Interesting story just sent in by a reader – Jim O’ from Gainesville, GA
Hearing Health – Earbuds that Leave Something Behind
Do you love listening to music or an audio book when working out? At the gym, many treadmills allow you to plug your own ear buds into their supplied television at the treadmill.
Like most people, our Chief Operating Officer does. He engages in some tv or tunes as he sets off on the treadmill or down the road, earbuds in place to help overcome the sometimes drudgery of treadmill workouts.
Working up a good sweat through the finish on this Wednesday evening, he removed the buds from his ears and unplugged from the treadmill at the gym. Walking toward the showers, it never dawned on him that there was now a danger lurking in his right ear.
That night he had a minor earache. Not thinking too much about it he does what we would probably all do; try and remove some of the excess water from the shower by wiggling the lobe of the ear. By mid-day Thursday he was traveling through the weekend. The nagging pain was enough that he called his physician who would see him the following Monday.
At his doctor’s office he was diagnosed with some sinus blockage as he really didn’t see anything, given some antibiotics and mild pain relievers. Follow-up appointment set for the following Monday.
By the time Friday rolled around the pain was getting worse, so he again seeks medical help. Calling his physician who could not see him, he calls an ENT (ear, nose, throat) office and gets in that afternoon.
The PA in that office found something that didn’t look right. Closer examination showed something truly surprising; the cone from the earbud!
Pulling this normally soft-and-comfortable-to wear-earpiece out from halfway imbedded into the ear canal was not without its own pain.
On Monday he is doing much better now. With his permission we agreed this it is something worth sharing and talking about; inspect your earbuds if they have the soft rubber insertion section. He could have wound up with a serious ear infection and possible ear drum damage.
Takeaways for those using these types of earbuds:
· Keep them clean by removing from the shaft and washing with warm soapy water after each use and allowing them to dry completely.
· Ensure they are properly seated prior to use.
· Never turn the volume up higher than you need to listen to the music (should still hear some outside noise).
· Inspect the earbuds after use to ensure all the parts are there.
· If you find that the earpiece is lodged inside your ear, enlist someone to use dull-pointed tweezers to extract from ear. Trying to do this on your own can result in pushing it deeper into the ear and possible permanent hearing damage.
Do you have any thoughts? Please share them below