Why You Should NOT Clean Your Ears with a Cotton Swab

There are some people that swear by sticking a cotton swab (Q-Tip) into their ears to remove excess wax and debris. Anyone in the medical field can tell you that they have seen many catastrophes resulting from using cotton swabs. From punctured ear drums to super impacted wax, there are many negative consequences associated with "do-it-yourself" ear cleaning.

There are a number of "bad" items that people use to clean their ears, some of the most interesting seen in the doctor's office are:

• cotton swabs (q-tips)
• hair pins
• tweezers
• pens and pencils
• straws
• paper clips
• children's toys

The ear canal has specialized cells that produce cerumen, commonly known as ear wax. For some people, ear wax accumulates must faster than others. This can lead to wax build-up that causes decreased ability to hear and ni some instances, pain.  As an easy way to avoid seeing a medical professional, many folks resort to using swabs to remove the excess wax. while this may seem like an excellent alternative to spending countless minutes waiting in a doctor's office waiting room, using a cotton swab may do more harm than good.

The ear drum is easily reached with a swab. Because the ear drum is so delicate, it can be easily ruptured by using even the gentlest pressure when using a swab. Ask anyone who has experienced a punctured ear drum - it isn't a pleasant experience. The pain is quite severe and the ear may also leak a clear fluid.  While a punctured ear rum will heal, it typically takes awhile and can even lead to conductive hearing loss.

So this leaves us with the question, do we really need to clean out our ears? The answer is a little confusing, as both a "yes" and a "no" are appropriate.  The outer ear that can be sen does need a good cleaning every now and then. This can be accomplished with a little soap, water and a washcloth.

In most cases, the ear canal does not need to be cleaned. During hair washing or showers, enough water enters into the ear canal to loosen the wax that has accumulated. Additionally, the skin in your ear canal naturally grows in an outward, spiral pattern. As it sloughs off, ear wax goes with it. most of the time the wax will loosen and fall out on its own while you are asleep. The need for a cotton swab isn't really necessary.

For those that have heavy wax build-up, a trip to the doctor may be needed. Doctors can easily remove ear wax in various ways.  Never stick anything into your ear canal, including your own fingers. This could further impact the wax or damage the ear drum. As a good rue of thumb, if you aren't  sure if what you are doing is safe, contact a health professional.

Earwax Do's and Don'ts

DO:

• Nothing. Ideally, the ear canal creates and gradually ejects earwax from the ear.
• Wash the outside of the ear (but not the ear canal) with soap and water.
• If you have excessive earwax buildup, it may help to put a drop of olive oil or baby oil in your ear canal once a week.
• Use over-the-counter earwax removal kits only if your ear drum is intact.
• See your doctor if olive oil, baby oil, or removal kits are not successful in removing impacted earwax, or if you experience pain, increasing difficulty hearing, tinnitus or ringing in the ear, a feeling of itchiness, a discharge or odor from the ear, or dizziness.

DON'T:

• Put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear, including cotton swabs, keys, pen caps, bobby pins, paper clips, or toothpicks.
• Employ ear candling to remove earwax buildup. Studies have shown it to be ineffective and potentially dangerous to the ear canal.

Cerumen? What's that all about?

FACTS ABOUT EAR WAX (from our friends at Bionix Medical Technologies)

• Medically named cerumen.
• Primary components of cerumen are shed layers of skin, kerative (a family of fibrous structural proteins), saturated and unsaturated long-chain fatty acids, alcohols, squalene, cholesterol.
• Fear, stress and anxiety result in increased production.
• There are two distinct genetically determined types of cerumen; wet, which is dominant, and dry, which is recessive.
• Caucasians and Africans are more likely to have the wet type - honey brown to dark brown and moist.  East Asians and Native Americans are more likely to have the dry type of cerumen - grey and flaky.
• Cerumen type has been used by anthropologists to track human migratory patterns!