Ears - how your ears work

Contents

There are three parts to your ear

Outer ear
Middle ear
Inner ear
Hearing
Listening
Understanding
Selective hearing
Dr Kim says

This topic tells you about your ears and how they work.
Your ears are very important. Think what it would be like if you could not hear people talking or
music or the telephone ring or your pet dog bark. We all need to take care of our ears - the topic
'Ears - looking after your ears', will tell you how you can do this.
Some special words:

vibration (vi-bray-shun)
conductive (con-duk-tiv)
noise
cochlea (cok-lear)
auditory (or-di-tor-y)
sensory-neural (sens-ory new-ral)
eustachian (you-stay-shun)
antibiotics (anti-bi-otics)
ossicles (oss-ik-uls)

See if you can work out what all these special words mean, when you read the next bit.

There are three parts to your ear

Outer ear
Middle ear
Inner ear

Outer ear
These are the bits we can see, and also the ear canal. They act like a funnel to catch sound
waves and direct them to the ear drum.
(A canal is a pathway for water, but the ear canal is a pathway for sound)

Middle ear
This is a small air-filled space on the inside of the eardrum.
There are 3 tiny bones called ossicles (oss-ik-uls) in this part.
They are called the hammer, anvil and stirrup (because that is what they look like).
When the sound waves move the eardrum, these bones move and pass on the vibration to the
very much smaller oval shaped window of the cochlea (the bit that looks like a shell). The
hammer is touching the ear drum so it shakes when the sound comes through, and the movement
goes right through the anvil to the stirrup, which is touching the window of the cochlea.

Inner ear
The cochlea has fluid in it, which moves due to the vibrations and bends hairs on the outside of
cells lining the cochlea. There are about 17,000 hair cells in each ear, so they really are tiny.
They are not like the hair on your head
Some of these hair cells (the 'inner hair cells') create an electrical impulse (signal), which is sent
along the auditory nerve to the brain. Most of them (the 'outer' ones), however, are like tiny
muscle cells, which react to the vibrations in the fluid by trembling and shaking; in this way they
work like high quality amplifiers and make the vibrations much stronger and clearer for the
smaller number of inner hair cells.

The brain then works out what you are hearing.

The semi-circular canals in your inner ear contain fluid too. They send
messages to your brain to help you keep your balance when you move.

Hearing
If your ears are working well, you hear sounds all the time. You can't switch your ears off, even
when you are asleep.

Listening
When you really want to listen to something you tell your brain to concentrate on that sound.
If your ears are healthy and are both working well, they can 'turn
down' other sounds while you concentrate on what you want to
hear.
If one ear isn't working as well as the other then they can't do this
as well. If your outer hair cells have been damaged by too much
loud noise, what you want to hear can get mixed up and smothered
by the other sounds around.
With healthy ears you can choose what you want to listen to, but you can't choose what you
hear.

Understanding
Your brain sorts out the sounds and tells you what they mean.
Some people have problems understanding what they are hearing because their ears don't work
well and they don't hear all the sounds. The brain does not get enough information to work it out,
or the messages may be mixed up.

Selective hearing

Lots of mums and dads think that kids have this particular 'problem'.
They think that you select (choose) what you are going to hear and
what you definitely can't hear! Many mums say that dads do this too!
In fact, this is something we may all do to try and make our lives a
bit easier.
Some children wrote what they liked to hear and what they didn't like
to hear.
What I like to hear
My dog barking in his sleep.
A friend saying, "Can you come and play?"
Birds singing in the morning.
"Let's go out for tea."
I like my mummy saying that she loves me.
I like to listen to music.
"Do you want an ice-cream?"
Mum saying goodnight.
I like to hear the computer.
I like to hear tea cooking.
I like to hear dad saying, "Yes you can stay up later."
What I don't like to hear
I don't like to hear very loud music.
I hate to hear mosquitoes buzzing in my ears.
Mum and dad arguing.
People screaming.
Chainsaws are too noisy.
Mum saying it's time for bed.
"You have to eat your vegetables."
"Tidy up your room."
People's fingernails scraping down the blackboard.
What sounds do you like to hear?
I know that there are times when you are concentrating so hard on something that you can shut
out everything around you, but
Do you pretend you haven't heard sometimes - especially when it is something you don't want
to hear? Everybody does sometimes - even mums and dads!
Like every other part of your body, ears need looking after if they are going to work as well as
they can.

Dr Kim says
Sometimes your ears feel funny when you are on a plane, going through a
tunnel or driving up hills.
This is because there is air inside your ear drum and air outside. The pressure
outside the ear changes when you go up high. You need to let more air into the
inside of your ear or let some out to balance the air pressure on each side of
your ear drum.
Try opening your mouth wide as if you are yawning, or chewing or blowing
your nose. This lets air through the eustachian tube into the inner ear, your ears
will feel like they go 'pop' and you will be able to hear normally again. If you are having
problems with hearing or your ears hurt then go and see your doctor.
Check out the related topics to find out more about your ears.
Aren't ears wonderful?

Catching soundwaves in the air.

Sending them along to where
The message gets through to your brain
Faster than the fastest train.
Sorting out what you want to hear
Whether the sound is far or near.
Wonderful music, nature's sounds
Birdsong, laughter and merry-gorounds.
You wouldn't know when mum says, "Time for
bed"
If you hadn't an ear on each side of your head.
BH

Ears - keeping your ears safe from noise

Contents

What too much noise does to your hearing

What noise can damage your hearing?
How you can protect your ears from noise
How is sound measured?
Dr Kate says

Too much noise can really change your hearing. Find out how, and what you can do to prevent it.

What too much noise does to your hearing

You may feel like you're hearing through cotton wool.

You have to try really hard to understand what people are saying.
You might feel like your ears need to 'pop'.
You may hear ringing or high whistling sounds in your ears.

These effects may last for a few hours or even a few days after the loud noise has stopped, but
some damage will last for ever if you listen to loud noise for too long or too often.

What noise can damage your hearing?

Any noise which is very loud and lasts for a long time can damage hearing.

If you are in a noisy place and you can't talk with your friend because you can't hear each
other, then that is not a good place for your ears to be!
If you can 'feel' the music you are listening to, then it's too loud and is damaging your
hearing.
If someone can hear the music coming through the earphones you are wearing, then the
music is too loud and may be damaging your ears.
If you are near power tools, chainsaws or other noisy machinery and you are not
wearing earmuffs, then you could be damaging your ears.
Firing guns or fireworks can cause damage to hearing.
Loud music, using amplifiers to make the sound louder, can damage your ears if you are
playing or listening to it.
People who work with noisy engines like tractors, farm and factory machinery should
wear earmuffs to protect their hearing - so you need to stay away from them to protect
yours.
Any noise that leaves your ears ringing or feeling dull is not good.

How you can protect your ears from noise

Stay away from noisy places, or don't stay long.

Wear earmuffs or ear plugs if you have to be somewhere noisy (like a car race or

using noisy power tools).

Wear earplugs as well as ear muffs if you have to be in a noisy place fairly often, or ever
go anywhere near firing guns.
Turn the volume down and get used to listening to quieter sounds.

Remember that damage to your hearing might last for ever.

How is sound measured?

Sound travels in waves. These waves are vibrations in the air.
The number of vibrations in a second is called frequency.
The fewer vibrations, the lower the sound or pitch.
Humans can hear across the range of 20 to 20 thousand Hertz (vibrations per second).
The vibrations vary in intensity (this means that sound waves can be strong or
weak). The stronger they are, the louder they sound.
Sound intensity is measured in decibels (dB)

Whispering would probably be measured at below 35dB

Talking with friends - around 50-60dB
Music in a disco - around 110-120 dB

This kind of measurement is not like going up a ladder one step at a time, it's more like taking
bigger and bigger steps as the sound gets more intense. For example 90dB is ten times louder
than 80dB.
So the noise from a disco is not three times the intensity of whispering, but more like several
thousand times greater. Ears start to hurt from noise at around 90dB.
So be kind to your ears and protect them from too much noise, and they will work hard for you
all your life.
Janine says:
"I went to a concert and I was near the band. My ears felt all woolly all the next day."

Dr Kate says
Think about your ears when you are listening to TV or music, and don't

have the sound louder than you need to be able to hear comfortably.

Ears - looking after your ears

Contents

What is hearing?
Looking after ears
Looking after your hearing
Getting older
What is an ear infection?
What causes it?
What can you do?
Dr Kim says

What is hearing?
Hearing is one of our senses.
Look at an animal like a cat or a dog and you will notice that they are
turning their ears to hear what is happening all
around them.
Our ears do not need to turn about, as we are able
to catch sound waves from any direction, and
funnel them into our ears. Sometimes if we hear something very faintly in
the distance we may turn in that direction to improve our chances of
hearing more clearly.
Ears are an important part of helping us to cope with our world.
They need us to look after them.

Looking after ears

Keep your ears clean by washing them when you wash your face.
Don't poke anything into your ear canal - not even a cotton bud.
Loud noise can damage your hearing. Any noise that makes your ears ring or feel dull is
too loud.
See your doctor if your ears hurt or they keep feeling blocked up.
Use sun-screen and a hat to protect the outside and top of your ears when you are outside
in the sun. Our topic 'Sunburn' tells you more about protecting your skin from the sun.

Looking after your hearing

The three main causes of hearing loss are:

getting older
ear infections (in-fek-shuns)
noise!!!

Getting older
The hair cells in your inner ear can become damaged as you get older, so the messages
going to your brain are not as clear.
This is not a problem that is going to worry you for a long time yet, except that you may
need to talk more clearly to your grandparents and stand where they can see your face
when you are speaking.

What is an ear infection?

Germs like bacteria and viruses can get into your body (like when you have a cold) and they can
go inside the middle ear. Your body tries to fight them by making a lot of thick stuff, called pus
and mucus, which is full of germ fighting cells.
Your ear starts to feel like it is really full and wants to pop. This can really hurt.
A middle ear infection is called otitis media (say o-ti-tis media).
You can also get an infection of the outer part of your ear - see the topic 'Swimmer's ear'.

What causes it?

When you have a cold your eustachian tube (say you-stay-shun) can get blocked up.
This tube is between your middle ear and the back of your nose.
The eustachian tube allows air to move in and out of your middle ear to stop pressure building
up.
Have you ever felt your ears "pop" when you've been on a plane or a fairground ride? That's the
eustachian tube doing its job.

Little kids can get ear infections more often than bigger people, because their eustachian tubes
are much smaller and can block up more quickly.
Allergies can cause your eustachian tubes to block too, giving you 'blocked ears'. If you already
know that you are allergic to something (like pollen or grasses), you may have medication from
your doctor to take when your nose gets runny or your eyes are itchy, and this might stop you
from getting an ear infection.

What can you do?

Tell Mum or Dad if your ears hurt.

See your doctor. The doctor will look down your ear with a special kind of torch called
an auriscope (say o-ris-kope). This will show if you've got an infection.
Take your medicine. You may have to take some medicine called antibiotics. This
medicine will help your body to fight the germs.
Maybe put drops in your ears if they are painful and the doctor asks you to do so.
Stay away from cigarette smoke.
Stay warm and out of wind (it can make your ears hurt more if they are a bit sore).
Keep away from others. They can't catch your ear infection, but they can catch your cold!
Ears
Ears are for hearing
They're not the right place
For poking and prodding
Or filling the space
With small things like beads
Small sweeties or gum
Putting things into your ears
Is just DUMB!
- BH

Mario says:
"Grandma told me that the only thing you should put in your ear is your elbow!"
Imagine how funny that would look!

Dr Kim says:
"Some people get sore ears when they go to a swimming pool.
They may wear a swimming cap or ear plugs to protect their ears."