Most of the people clean their ears to keep them healthy and clean. In fact, they are not designed for cleaning. By sticking objects into your ears, you only disrupt the natural process because the ears have own hygienic regime. You can only cause an injury.
The habit of probing into your ears and the use of cotton-tipped applicators were “prohibited” by AAO (American Academy of Otolaryngology). The Academy explains the connection between the risk of hearing the loss and over-zealous ear cleaning on its website.
Cerumen (ear wax) acts as the self-cleaning agent that has anti-bacterial and protective characteristics. Ear wax cleans the ear canal, migrates from the ear opening to the eardrum and finally falling out and drying. There is no need to interfere in normal circumstances because this is a self-regulating process. Your ear will become itchy and dry if there is an absence of cerumen – ear wax.
Why You Shouldn’t Clean Your Ears With a Cotton Swab
- You push the earwax deeper into the ear when you use cotton swabs.
- It can cause many complications by blocking against the eardrum.
- Viruses, bacteria, and fungus from the outer ear can cause really painful infections if they get pushed into the ear.
- Hearing loss can be caused if the ear wax is jammed deep inside the canal.
- The situation can result in rupture if it gets shoved further.
Should Your Ears Be Cleaned at All?
- According to Dr. Douglas Backous, director of skull base surgery and hearing at Swedish Neuroscience Institute, you only create a vicious cycle by cleaning the inside of the ear. A lot of histamine gets releases when you frequently rub the skin of the ears. This makes your skin inflamed and irritated.
- When you have been assessed by a doctor, that is the only time that the wax should be cleaned. Discharge, odor, itching, tinnitus, hearing loss and earache are the symptoms for this condition. The medical professional should clean your ears.
- Do not insert anything into the inner part of the ear if you really want to continue cleaning the ears. Using a cloth, clean only the external part of the ear. The mixture between is tap water, rubbing alcohol and white vinegar is the perfect combination if you can not leave the ears alone. A few drops a day a day is ideal for your ears.