【International Day of the Deaf】Protect your ears and care for the hearing-impaired

September 25th this year is the 2022 International Day of the Deaf. Since 1958, the fourth Sunday of September every year has become the International Day of the Deaf. The World Federation of the Deaf hopes that by establishing this holiday, society will pay more attention to the deaf and improve their social status.

According to statistics, there are about 27 million hearing-impaired people in my country. They rank first among the five major groups of disabled people, including visually impaired, physically disabled, and mentally disabled, accounting for 1.67% of China's total population; among them, there are about 800,000 children under the age of 7, and 30,000 babies with hearing loss are born for every 20 million newborns. For them, normal communication and interaction with others is almost never a "daily routine" in life. The world in their eyes is quieter and colder than what ordinary people feel.

Factors that cause deafness

01 Genetic factors

Hereditary deafness is congenital and mostly difficult to change, but if it can be detected and treated early after birth, especially with early cochlear implant surgery, it will be possible for the child to study, socialize, get married, have children, and have work opportunities like normal children.

02 Environmental factors

Deafness caused by environmental factors is mostly acquired and can be prevented. In daily life, we must protect our ears and avoid acquired hearing loss.

03 Other unknown factors

Viral infection, temporal bone fracture, damage to the auditory nerve center in the brain, and direct damage to the auditory center can also cause deafness.

Ways to prevent hearing loss

1Avoid drug poisoning

Aminoglycosides, salicylates, anti-tumor drugs, and alcohol drugs. Before using these drugs, you must follow the doctor's advice and never take them randomly.

2. Prevent virus infection

Infants and young children should receive various vaccinations in a timely manner and avoid crowded public places during epidemic seasons.

3. Reduce noise

To stay away from noise, you can wear noise-canceling headphones; when choosing a place to live, stay away from traffic arteries, KTVs and other places with high-intensity noise.

4. Prevent ear injuries

Being hit on the ears or the explosion sound produced by firecrackers can cause the eardrum to rupture or perforate, directly leading to hearing loss.

5. Eat more fruits and vegetables

A survey shows that eating more fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene, such as citrus fruits (including oranges, grapefruits, and tangerines), strawberries, bell peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, potatoes, sprouts, etc., can help prevent the occurrence of noise-induced hearing loss.

6. Correct ear cleaning

Do not use hard tools such as small wooden sticks or hairpins to pick your ears, as this may damage the ear canal skin or eardrum, causing infection and affecting hearing. Do not pick your ears too often, as frequent ear picking can easily damage the ear canal. 2-3 times a month is enough.

7. Actively treat other diseases

Diseases such as colds, rhinitis, sinusitis, and deviated nasal septum can affect nasal ventilation, thereby affecting the ventilation of the Eustachian tube, making it easy for bacteria in the mucus to enter the ear cavity, causing otitis media and affecting hearing.

8. Improve body resistance

Adjust your daily routine, strengthen exercise, and improve your body's resistance. In addition, it is also important to maintain a good attitude. Excessive emotional fluctuations can easily affect poor blood circulation in the ears, causing inner ear nerves to lack oxygen and lead to sudden deafness.

On this special day, let us care for the hearing impaired and make their lives warmer.

The popular science content of this platform has been funded by the China Association for Science and Technology's Science Popularization Department's 2022 National Science Literacy Action Project "National Society Science Popularization Capacity Improvement Project-Rehabilitation Science Popularization Service Capacity Improvement Action Plan"