Why you should not use cotton buds, keys, pencils to clean your ears

 

Pen and pencil ends, cotton buds (Q-tips), keys, hairpins, wax crayons anything long and really slender finds its way into ears.

You usually reach for a cotton earbud when the ear wax in your ear gets built over a long time and tends to cause an itch. Since the swab rids you of your temporary itch, you immediately reach for the swab.

 

Credit: DavidWolfe.com

 

But did you know? When you do that your eardrum is being harmed. You may think that the residue you find at the end of the stick means a clean ear but, in the process of shoving that Q-tip or key into your ear you may have instead pushed the ear wax further deeper, causing a clog or a blockage apart from other damage. The eardrum is delicate, just like the taut skin on a drum. While a hard prod from the drumstick can tear open a drum, similarly, even a gentle pressure from swabs or keys or any sharp object is enough to rupture your eardrum.

 

This is how you feel when you put that ear bud in your ear

 

 

This is how you will feel if anything goes wrong as a result of it

 

 

What happens when the eardrum is ruptured or torn?

When that happens, you may first feel pain and it will be varying in intensity. Some people may also see discharge from the ear in the form of water, pus, or even blood. This is the sign of an infected ear. It is not to be taken lightly as some of you may have temporary hearing loss, reduced hearing, the feeling of a constant buzzing or ringing and sometimes even dizziness.

 

So should you not clean your ears?

Earwax is not all that bad. As explained by the American Hearing Research Foundation:

“Too little earwax increases the risk of infection… at least ten antimicrobial peptides are present in earwax preventing bacteria and fungi from growing.” And the ears are a self-cleaning part of your body. Doctors say that the earwax that you are so worried about is removed by functions like chewing and movement of the jaw. In fact, sometimes you can also feel it drop out of your ears after a long shower or bath, however most of the time you may not even know of it. So there you have it. You don’t need to stress over earwax nor clean your ears everyday with a cotton bud.

 

What is the correct way to clean the ears?

Here you go:

 

Read this: 4 ways to clean your ears without earbuds

 

And if you absolutely must get it cleaned an ENT doctor can remove your earwax using specially designed instruments.