Toronto native Dr. Jerry Chapnik is an ear, nose and throat man: an otalaryngologist at Mt. Sinai Hospital and assistant professor at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine.We tracked down Dr. Chapnik to ask him a few questions about ear health.
I’m thinking about getting my son an iPod for Xmas, but isn’t their some danger to his ears?
From a physical point, 80 decibels is the maximum you can be exposed to for eight hours a day without getting damage. But the louder the sound, the less exposure time it will take for damage to set in.
A rock concert can be around 100 decibels and at that point can cause permanent damage. If you’re using a Walkman or an iPod, the trick is to make it not too loud. If someone else standing beside you can hear the music, it’s too loud.
Is any type of earphone better than another?
The better the quality of the headphone, the less need you have to play the music loudly. I think Apple makes some pretty good headphones. And of course anything you buy at the dollar store is probably worth a dollar.
Have you ever had a patient with something stuck in their ear?
Many times.
What’s the weirdest object you’ve found?
Live insects: beetles, ants, flies. Often people will come in because they hear a buzzing in their ear and it turns out to be a fly. We usually put some alcohol in and that kills it.
What’s the most common object?
Cotton batton. You know, someone is cleaning their ear and they just push it in too far.
How do you get it out?
Usually the doctor will syringe it out.They force water in through the syringe and just draw it out. But we have high-powered equipment, too.
How should people keep their ears clean?
Leave them alone. Well, you should never insert anything into them.You can wash them in the shower and dry them with a towel, but no Qtips. Otherwise you are just pushing wax and residue into the ear canal.
So no ear candling?
I’m glad you brought that up because it is a completely bogus treatment. It’s invented solely to benefit the ear candler [business].
What causes earaches?
An earache is just pain in the ear. It could be from something wrong in the ear,like an ear infection,or as the result of something wrong outside the ear,like a toothache or pain from arthritis of the neck that has radiated. In the same way as a heart attack, sometimes you don’t necessarily feel pain in your heart, you feel it down your left arm.
What about ear infections? What’s the best way to avoid them?
It depends on the kind of infection.
You can have something that concerns the external ear, and that usually comes from excessive sweating or from water in the ear. The best way to avoid that is to dry your ears after you get them wet. You can use alcohol drops to dry up the moisture or you can pat your ears dry with a towel and use a hair dryer. Middle ear infections are the most common, and they’re the type that children usually get. They’re usually associated with upper respiratory infections,which are common in the winter. The best way to avoid them is to prevent colds; wash your hands well, humidify the house to keep things moist; keep a healthy diet; and for adults, avoid alcohol and smoking.
Are there any other major medical conditions that ear pain is a symptom of?
Throat cancer, although usually there will be others symptoms, like throat pain or change of voice. We sometimes see it with acute thyroid inflammation or cancer of the tongue, if it’s toward the back.
So what’s the best advice for keeping ears healthy throughout the winter?
There’s not really much you have to do. Cover them, if you’re worried about frostbite, but if you’re dealing around zero degrees, you don’t really have to do anything.
Can ear piercings become hazardous to ear health?
Usually not. I mean, everybody has their ears pierced.The only group of people we sometimes see problems with is people who have scarring.