Why can't you use cotton swabs to pick your ears?
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- Source:Audion Hearing Aids
Why can’t you use cotton swabs to pick your ears?
First, the cotton swabs we use in daily life are larger than our external auditory canals. After the cotton swabs enter the external auditory canal, the surrounding gaps are smaller. Although the cotton swab can indeed bring out some cerumen (earwax) debris, the head of the cotton swab will inevitably push some of the cerumen deep into the ear canal. Over time, cerumen embolism may develop. In my past cerumen cleaning videos, you can often find that there is an obvious depression on the surface of some hard vegetables, which is the mark left by the head of the cotton swab. 2. When using a cotton swab for others, if you accidentally use too much force, or if you are hit on your arm when using a cotton swab, the cotton swab will cause damage to the skin of the external auditory canal or even the eardrum, which is more common than cerumen embolism. If the skin of the external auditory canal is simply damaged, keep the ear dry and do not wipe it with cotton swabs. It will heal in about a week. If the eardrum is damaged, some people can heal on their own, while others may even need surgery to repair it.Third, if adults really want to use cotton swabs to clean their ear canals, it is recommended to use double-headed cotton swabs specially designed for children. These cotton swabs are small in size and are not prone to the above situation. Note that even cotton swabs specially designed for children are still larger than the child's ears and can be used to clean other areas of the child's body. Try not to clean the child's external auditory canal, otherwise, it may cause more trouble than an adult.
Fourth, some wooden cotton swabs are poorly made and may easily cause the cotton ball to fall off when picking out the ear, or even the stem to break and enter the external auditory canal. This is a common type of foreign body in the external auditory canal in otology clinics.
Earwax is used to protect the ears
There are cerumen glands in the skin on the cartilage surface on the outside of the external auditory canal, which can secrete a light yellow color The sticky substance called cerumen, commonly known as "ear wax" or "ear cicada", guards the door of the external auditory canal like a "sentinel". Some of these substances become flakes when dried by air, and some are like sticky grease. Usually "hiding" in the external auditory canal, it has the function of protecting the skin of the external auditory canal and adhering to foreign substances (such as dust, small flying insects, etc.). For the ears, earwax is actually the protective umbrella of the ears. It has been protecting the ears silently, but you can’t see it~
How to deal with dirty ears correctly
In fact, our ears have a self-cleaning function. When there is an overdose, a series of daily actions such as opening the mouth and chewing can make the earwax escape from the ear canal; in addition, we can alsoUse other means to clean up. Click on the blue words to learn more: Press this acupuncture point on the ear every day to replenish qi, strengthen the body, and promote longevity
You can use liquids such as salt water, mineral oil, and hydrogen oxide to clean the ear canal. Just pour the liquid into the ear dropper, and then drip a few drops into the ear. Tilt your head in the opposite direction to allow the cleaning liquid to enter the ear. Keep it for about 4 minutes, and then turn your head Turn sideways to drain the fluid from the ear canal and dry the ear canal. Then use the same method to clean the other ear.
Of course, cleaning the ear canal is often unnecessary. With the self-cleaning function of the ear, many people do not need to clean the ear at all. If there is really too much earwax, you can try the above methods. Of course, to be on the safe side, the best thing to do is to go to the hospital and have a surgeon clean it up.