How to prevent the occurrence of hearing impairment? The main causes of hearing impairment (deafness) are ototoxic drugs (e.g., gentamicin, kanamycin, streptomycin, etc.), followed by viral infections (e.g., influenza and high fever), infectious diseases (e.g., mumps, etc.), and then familial genetic disorders (e.g., trichromosomal 21 syndrome, etc.), etc. All of these factors can lead to damage, degeneration, and death of cochlear hair cells, resulting in permanent hearing loss. To prevent the development of hearing disorders, special attention should be paid to the following conditions: (1) Start with marriage examinations, take care of your pregnancy, avoid colds and infections, and do not take medication indiscriminately during pregnancy. (2) Avoid ototoxic drugs such as streptomycin and gentamicin as much as possible. (3) Prevent otitis media: Almost every young child and preschooler will contract otitis media with effusion (OME) at some point. Mothers should avoid the practice of breastfeeding their children lying flat on their backs, as this makes it easier for the milk to choke into the child’s middle ear cavity, leading to otitis media. (4) Viral infections (e.g. measles, mumps, otitis media with effusion, etc.) are often complicated by sensorineural deafness and require prompt medical attention. Special attention should be paid to the child’s hearing during and after treatment. (5) Strong noise: Avoid excessive exposure to strong noise, such as firecrackers, long stays in discos and KTVs, and excessive use of MP3s; (6) Children with large vestibular canal syndrome should avoid hitting their heads, and should not palm their ears. When blowing the nose should be left and right nasal cavity one by one, as well as try to avoid excessive force when defecating. (7) Good hygiene habits: prevent water from flowing into the ears when washing hair or bathing, and quit the habit of pulling out ears, especially parents should not dig cerumen (commonly called “earwax”) for children. In fact, cerumen protects the outer ear canal and usually falls out on its own with the movement of the mouth, so no special treatment is needed. Individual cases of oily cerumen can be treated by a doctor at regular intervals.