How to Maintain Hygiene When Sharing Earbuds with Family Members

In many houses, the pair of earbuds passes from one hand to the other with the same simplicity with which one passes the remote control of the television. The son asks to the father the headphones for to listen the music, the daughter uses the same earbuds of the mother for the audiobook, the cousins share them during the holidays. It is a gesture so normal that nobody stops to think at what really happens inside the ear canal in the moment in which that little object of plastic and silicone enters in contact with the skin.

And yet, the question of the hygiene in the shared use of the earbuds is not a matter of excessive precaution. It is a matter of concrete health, above all for the delicate equilibrium of the ear, which is much more fragile than what one could imagine.

Why the Shared Earbuds Represent a Concrete Risk for the Ears

The ear canal is a warm environment, humid, and poorly ventilated. These are exactly the conditions in which the bacteria and the fungi find their ideal habitat. When one inserts an earbud, even for only thirty minutes, the small space between the device and the skin becomes a zone where the heat accumulates, the natural cerumen remains blocked, and the microorganisms multiply with rapidity.

Now, one must to imagine what happens when the same earbud passes from the ear of the father to the ear of the daughter within the same afternoon. The bacteria of one become the bacteria of the other. The small quantities of cerumen, of dead cells, of sweat, they remain on the surface of the silicone tip and they transfer with an ease that surprises, if one thinks about it for a moment.

The principal risks that result from this practice, when the cleaning is not done in adequate manner, are these:

• External otitis , that is the inflammation of the ear canal, often caused by bacteria as the Staphylococcus aureus or the Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• Fungal infections (the so-called otomycosis), which provoke itching intense, sensation of full ear, and sometimes also a light loss of hearing temporary
• Irritations of the skin of the ear canal, with redness and small lesions that can to become door of entry for further infections
• Accumulation of cerumen pushed in depth from the earbud, which creates a plug difficult to eliminate without the intervention of the doctor

The Protocol of Cleaning: What to Do Before and After Every Use

It is not necessary to be a specialist for to put in act a correct hygiene. What is necessary is the constancy and the knowledge of few simple gestures, which must to become automatic as the washing of the hands before to eat.

After every single use, one must to:

1. Remove the earbud from the ear with delicate movements, without to pull with force
2. Pass on the silicone tip a clean cloth in microfiber, dry, for to remove the visible residues of cerumen and of humidity
3. Once per week, detach the silicone tips (if the model permits) and wash them with warm water and a drop of neutral soap, leaving them to dry completely before to reassemble
4. Clean the body of the earbud with a cotton swab lightly humidified with a solution of water and white vinegar in equal parts, or with a specific product for the cleaning of electronic devices

Before the passage from one member of the family to the other:

• It is opportune that the earbud remains “to rest” at least ten minutes in open air, so that the internal humidity evaporates
• One should to pass a disinfectant wipe specific for electronics (without alcohol in high concentration, which could to damage the membranes)
• If possible, every member of the family should to have his own pair of silicone tips, which cost few euros and can to be substituted every two or three months

The table here under helps to remember the frequency of the principal operations:

Operation	Frequency
Wipe with dry cloth after the use	Every time
Wash of the silicone tips with soap	Once per week
Disinfection before the passage to another person	Every exchange
Substitution of the silicone tips	Every 2-3 months
Control of the ear canal from the doctor	Once per year, or at the first sign of fastidio

The Individual Precautions for Every Member of the Family

Not all the ears are equal, and it is important to do attention to the specific needs of every person. The ears of a child of eight years are more delicate than those of an adult, and the ear canal of an elderly person produces often more cerumen, with the consequence that the earbuds become dirty in more rapid manner.

For the children, it is fundamental to verify that the dimension of the silicone tip is adapted to their ear. A tip too large creates pressure, a tip too small does not stay in position and the child will to push it inside with the fingers, introducing bacteria.

For who suffers already of dermatitis or of psoriasis also in other zones of the body, the sharing of the earbuds should to be avoided in absolute manner, because the skin of the ear canal is more reactive and more subject to inflammations.

And there is another aspect that often one does not consider: the volume. When one shares the earbuds, there is the tendency to hold the volume more elevated for to compensate the fit not perfect. This habit, repeated in the time, can to contribute to a gradual fatigue of the auditory system. It is not a case that many specialists of the hearing underline the importance of the prevention not only from the infections, but also from the acoustic stress. In this context, some families choose to support the wellbeing of the ear also from the inside, for example with integrators specific for the auditory function, as Acuvit, which contains nutrients thought for to nourish the structures of the inner ear. It is not a substitution of the hygiene, naturally, but a complement that has sense in a vision of attention complete toward the hearing.

The Signs That the Ear Is Asking for Attention

One must to know how to listen the own body, and to teach also the children to do the same. The ear does not speak with words, but it sends signals that are precise. If, after a period of shared use of the earbuds, one notices one of these symptoms, it is opportune to suspend the use and to observe the situation for two or three days:

• Itching persistent inside the ear canal, which does not pass with the simple movement of the jaw
• Sensation of “full ear” or of hearing ovattato, as if one had cotton inside
• Light redness visible at the entrance of the ear canal
• Small quantity of liquid or of crust around the external part of the ear
• A light pain when one touches the tragus (the small cartilage in front of the ear canal)

If the symptoms do not improve within 48 hours, or if they worsen, it is necessary to contact the doctor of family or the otorhinolaryngologist. The infections of the ear, if taken in time, resolve with simplicity. If neglected, they can to become more complex and to require treatments longer.

The Daily Habits That Protect the Hearing in the Long Period

The hygiene of the earbuds is one piece of a more wide discourse on the care of the hearing. In the family, it is beautiful and useful to create small habits that protect the ears of all, from the grandparents to the grandchildren.

Some of these habits are truly simple:

• After the shower, dry the ears with the corner of the towel, without to insert cotton swabs in the canal, which push the cerumen in depth and can to create micro-lesions
• Limit the use of the earbuds to a maximum of 60 minutes consecutive, and then make a pause of at least 15 minutes
• Maintain the volume under the 60 percent of the maximum capacity of the device
• Once per year, make a control of the hearing, above all after the 50 years or if one works in noisy environments
• Support the nutrition of the auditory system with a alimentation rich in antioxidants, in magnesium, in vitamins of the group B. And if the alimentation is not sufficient, one can to evaluate with the doctor the opportunity of an integrator as Acuvit, of which one finds information detailed on the page acuvit.health where are explained the components and the modality of use in manner transparent

These are not prescriptions rigid. They are gestures of common sense, the same type of common sense with which one teaches to the children to wash the hands or to not to put the objects in the mouth. The ear is a sense precious, and it deserves the same attention that we give to the eyes or to the teeth.

When It Is Necessary to Consult the Doctor

There are situations in which the good practices of hygiene are not sufficient, and it is right to ask help to who has studied the ear for profession. One should to book a visit from the specialist if:

• The pain to the ear becomes intense and pulsating
• There is a loss of hearing sudden, also only from one side
• From the ear exits liquid yellowish, with smell not pleasant
• The itching becomes so strong to disturb the sleep
• After an otitis cured, the sensation of full ear persists beyond one week

In these cases, the doctor will to evaluate if there is an infection in act, if there is an accumulation of cerumen, or if the ear canal has suffered a irritation that needs a specific treatment.

The sharing of the earbuds in family is not a practice to eliminate in absolute. It is a practice to manage with intelligence, with few gestures of cleaning, with the respect of the pauses, and with the attention to the signals that the ear sends. In this manner, the music, the audiobooks, the telephone calls, they remain a pleasure to share, and not a risk to run.

And this, in the end, is the only thing that truly matters: that the hearing stays healthy, for to continue to listen the voices of the persons we love, for many years still.