Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1883-10-03
LOOK OUT FOR THE EARS.

over thinks of their ears unless they
ache, get frozen, or the hearing begins
to grow dullP Exactly, who doesp-
and that is just what / want to talk to
you about Not that there is much that
you need to do, but great many things
that you ought to leave undone which
are done. do not propose to give you
remedies for diseases already seated, for
the simple reason that no one should do
this who does not thoroughly under
stand the individual trouble to be treated,
but l want to tell you how to prevent
their coming.
The ear is most delicate organ, and
extremely sensitive to adverse influences.
Many child has lost his hearing through
a sudden blow upon the side OF his head
from an angry parent or teacher, though
the mischief done was not apparent un-
I'll sometime afterward, and perhaps
was never traced to its real cause. Ear
pulling, ear boxing, and such little
pastimes should never be resorted to
under any circumstances, for, for in
stead of being harmless way of punish
ing, they may intlict an irreparable in
jury.
shall not enter minutely into the
structure of the ear, it not being neces-
sary to my purpose. Suffice it to say it
has three parts: 1. The external ear,
comprising what is commonly called the
ear, a passage back from that, named
the auditory canal leaning to the drum
head, and the drum-head itself, which is
a thin membrane, circular in form and
about quarter of an inch in diameter,
that forms the partition between the ex-
ternal and middle ear. l want you to
note the situation of the drum-head par
ticularly, and its extreme thinness, it
being only about 1880 of an inch thick.
2. Next comes the middle ear, or tym-
panum, which is an air cavity, and con-
tains the smallest bones of the human
body. Through it pass two nerves, one
running to the face, and the other q
branch that goes to the tongue. 8.
Lastly, the internal ear, or labyrinth, so
called because it has never yet been
distinctly understood what purpose it
answers in hearing.
The middle ear is the seat of most of
the diseases that affect the hearing, it
being in all of its parts the most deli
cate and complicated in structure. 1t
is probably for this reason that 1t is pro-
tected.by the drum-head partition before
mentioned. This partition effectually
prevents the passage of anything into
the inner parts of the ear, so that the
alarm which is felt when anything
enters the auditory passage is needless,
because it can go no farther than the
length OF it-about an inch and n quar-.
ter-and will probably be stopped al
the middle, which is narrower thar
either end. If it stops here, usually il
will work out of itself, but if it should
pass the narrow part, it will have to be
taken away. Right here comes the dan
ger. People 60 to work to pick it out
and in nine cases out of ten perforat,
the drum-head, sometimes tearing it al
away and leaving the middle ear ex
;, posed to the air and consequent disease
Let it alone-unless the pain is unbear
able-until doctor who understand!
the anatomy Of the ear, the length o
the canal, etc., can take it out withou
injury. A bead, button, or any sucl
smooth, small object, can do no harm
anyway, and has been known to remain
for years without injury. The pain tha
sometimes results, which is supposed t.
be caused by the object, is really Otter
produced by unskillful poking arounc
for it; lacerating the auditory canal
tearing away the delicate drum-head
and causing a general Inflammation t.
be set up. Never allow an unskillfu
person to attempt to take anything on
Of the ear with pieces of wire, a hair
pin, or any other hard substance, bu
go to doctor and have it harmlessl,
extracted.
Right here I want to enter an EN-
phatic protest against any picking a
the ear whatever. Many people have
way OF enveloping a pin head with thei
handkerchief, and then swabbing tn,
ear out with it for the purpose of clean
ing it. Or they scratch it with an ear
pick, or twist the end of q towel an,
, run it in as far as possible, then work
: around, imagining that they are doin,
q good thing. On the contrary the,
pack the wax and dry skin back into TIN
ear, to say nothing of the injury oftei
done by the scratching and scraping
, The result is frequently the formation o
q chronic ulcer on the drum-head or il
the auditory canal, growth of granu
: lations with a foul discharge, and final
ly the bones become affected.
1t isa practic frequently resorted to il
! cases OF earache to roast an onion, TAX
: out the core and shove it into the ear
. Relief frequently follows and the cur
I Is ascribed to the especial virtue of tn
onion. In fact it is simply the warmt
which brought cessation of pain, an,
the end would have been as quickl
!, reached by making a square poultice @
! the onion or anything that will retail
! the heat and binding 1t loosely over tn
D ear. Then there would be no danger @
5 pieces of the onion core remaining il
q the canal to decompose, and cause in
fammation, as IN the other case.
Back of the outer ear lie the nerves
9 Heat applied there or in front, rubbin
= with laudanum in both places, will ofte
allay the pain. Laudanum may b
dropped upon the poultice when it
applied. 1t is also common custom Z
r drop all sorts of hot things into the ca
= or to syringe 1t with warm water. Neve
do either unless under the direction @
aphysician, for while you may some
r times apparently do good, more ofte
4 the final effect is irremediable harm
: The very construction of the ear, tn
situation around the outer part of tn
9 auditory canal Of the glands to secret
G the bitter wax, the purpose of which
e evidently for protection against the in
!. cursion Of insects and to prevent tn
growth Of mould, shows that Nature di
not intend foreign substances to be in
troduced unless with the greatest care
> Now you will understand me that
do not say that syringe full of warn
,, water-never cold-or drop or two O
o sweet-oil or glycerine never do good
Q but simply that their indiscriminate us
n does harm. 1t Is something to kno,
o how to employ syringe effectively, an
= mothers who live at distance from an
phydcian would do well to learn. i