It is known that about 50,000 children worldwide die from acute otitis media every year, most of them are infants and children under 3 years old living in developing countries. In China, there are as many as 20 million people with hearing disabilities, 1.7 million under the age of 14, and more than 80% are deaf due to acquired causes. Many people’s ear disorders are planted at an early age, and otitis media is one of the major contributing factors. Yin Shihua, director of the Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, talks about how many bad habits in life can trigger otitis media, and how prevention is key. Bad habits a baby lying down drinking milk milk “choke” bad ears early treatment of otitis media better, but many people did not find in time, laying a hidden danger for the future deterioration of inflammation. Yin Shihua said that some otitis media may have been planted during infancy. When a baby is born, the food is the mother’s milk, and if a young mother does not have the right posture when breastfeeding, she may expose her baby’s ears to damage. Yin Shihua said that some mothers like to let their babies lie down to drink milk, so it is easy to choke, when the milk may also “choke” to the baby’s ears. This is because in the middle ear cavity, there is a thin tube leading to the nasopharynx, medically known as the eustachian tube. The structure of children’s eustachian tube is different from that of adults, whose eustachian tube is narrower and has a slope, so that bacteria or other substances do not easily pass through it. In contrast, the eustachian tube of children is not fully developed and is like a “spacious parallel bridge” compared to adults, so bacteria or other substances such as milk can “pass unimpeded”. When the breastfeeding position is incorrect, such as horizontal nursing or lying down to suck on a bottle, the milk can easily enter the middle ear through the eustachian tube, which can lead to infection. Yin Shihua reminded, because children can not use language to explain the difficult place, if the baby choking situation occurs, parents see the milk are from the baby’s nose, to the hospital in a timely manner, you can give the baby under the guidance of doctors to eat a little antibiotics to prevent pediatric otitis media. In addition, when giving the baby milk or water, it is best to use a sitting position, hold the baby up in an oblique position and raise his head a bit to nurse. Bad habits two blow your nose hard bacteria “run” in the ear seemingly normal habits – blowing your nose, but also may be the “culprit” of otitis media. After autumn, the temperature difference between morning and evening, it is easy to catch a cold, and when people blow their nose, they use two fingers to pinch both sides of the nose and forcefully blow out the snot, and because the snot contains a large number of viruses and bacteria, the pressure will force the snot out to the posterior nostril, and the bacteria will reach the eustachian tube, which may cause otitis media. Yin Shihua talked about, especially sinusitis patients, usually often runny nose sneezing, more attention to correct this bad habit. Bad habits three swimming choking method incorrectly lead to inflammation Yin Shihua said, after the heat, the department also received many cases of otitis media due to swimming. In general, when swimming, water will enter the ear from the outer ear canal, but if there is no hole in the eardrum, the water will not enter the middle ear from the outer ear. However, if you accidentally choke, bacteria or disinfectants in the water will then enter the mouth and nose, and then enter the middle ear through the eustachian tube, thus causing otitis media. If you don’t pay attention to swimming, the water will enter the middle ear canal directly, making the middle ear moist and easy for bacteria to multiply and grow, producing inflammation. Some people dig their ears while swimming, causing damage to the ear canal and bacteria to enter the middle ear, causing acute otitis media and otitis externa; others go swimming because they are not well from a cold and their resistance is lowered, so bacteria from the nasal cavity enter the middle ear and cause otitis media. Bad Habit Four: Pulling out the ears vigorously can lead to otitis media. Yin Shihua said that in outpatient clinics, he often receives patients who pull out their ears because they have been infected with bacteria that cause otitis media. Yin reminded parents that children at home like to imitate adults and take out their ears like adults do, so if they accidentally touch or fall down, they can easily damage the mucous membrane of the external ear canal or tympanic membrane, leading to infection, which may also spread to the middle ear and cause inflammation.