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Health Matters

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layers and blocks the eardrum, prohibiting
sounds from penetrating and causing an
ear plug effect. In some cases, patients
can feel unbalanced or unsteady.
Rather than using these applicators, simply use a damp cloth
at home to clean the opening of the canal, but not deeper
than your finger can go. Make sure your ears are dry by
using the same technique after swimming or showering. When
methods at home do not do the trick, a professional cleaning is
recommended. There are a variety of ways professionals can
clean the ears. Some use a suction method, applying a vacuum
like instrument into the canal pulling out the debris. Others can
use surgical tools to extract the debris from the canals. Our
office, Florida Hearing Matters, prefers the Ear Spa where a
professional water irrigation system is used, circulating sterile
warm water in the ear removing excessive build up and deep
cleaning the glands that produce ear wax. In less than 20
minutes, patients are left with clean, healthy ears without the
pain or discomfort of traditional cleaning methods.
Why is a clean ear canal and eardrum so important? This
Learn the best ways to exceptionally fine layer of skin is the gateway to the other
parts of our ear. Behind the eardrum is our middle ear
clean and maintain healthy where the vibrations of sounds bounce moving tiny bones in

a consecutive order. This bone movement pushes the sound
hearing by local expert waves into our inner part of our ear. The inner part of our ear
Dr. Valerie Rossetti is the home to our hearing and balance nerve. Our hearing
nerves are raveled together like keys on a piano. If some of
the nerve fibers are damaged, certain sounds may not be
detected causing a lack of clarity in words and a decrease of
very day we have patients of all ages coming to our speech understanding. For our ear to hear properly, all 3 parts
office seeking clean, healthy ears and we have a few of our ear, outer, middle, and inner, must work together. It is
Etips for you to follow to obtain that goal. You may important to have our ears cleaned and the hearing checked
have heard, “Do not put anything in your ear smaller than regularly to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
your elbow...” and that is REALLY TRUE! Our ears are a Florida Hearing Matters, LLC is owned and operated by Dr.
complex, sensory organ that not only allows us to hear but Valerie Rossetti, a Board-Certified Audiologist who has been
also regulates our balance system. The outer part of our helping the residents of South Florida for over 20 years.
ear is self-cleaning, meaning the skin of the canal naturally Before starting her own practice, she worked in various private
grows outward, purging debris and built-up oily wax to the practice settings in New York and Palm Beach County.
opening of the canal. The amount of wax your ear produces
can vary. Just like sweat glands, people may have variant
levels of production depending on skin type, nationality, and
environmental factors. Frequently patients will use cotton
swabs, or Q-Tip’s and push this build up further into the canal.
This process can actually make their hearing WORSE and
cause a larger wax impaction. Pushing the debris in forms

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