Health and Wellness

Why You Shouldn’t Use A Cotton Swab To Clean Your Ears?

Cleaning ears with a cotton swab is something that most of us do (except for those who choose not to clean their ears!) We do this more often than not because we do not want any sort of dirt in the ear area.  Especially when we leave for work, we want to look spic and span.

Whoever felt confident being shabby!

Via – images.medicaldaily.com

However, cleaning the ears with a cotton swab turns out to be a curse in disguise!

Yes, that’s right… The doctors can’t emphasize enough against the use of an earbud or a cotton swab to clean ears.

What happens when you use an earbud/a cotton swab to clean your ears?

When we use a cotton swab to clear the ears, we actually push the earwax further down the ear canal. Thus it gets closer to the eardrum. This might block the eardrum and impair the hearing. At times the pressure exerted on the delicate eardrum can even cause a minor rupture and lead to a permanent hearing loss.

Via – rellimzone.com

Secondly, the wax is there for a reason. The ear glands secrete the ear wax as a defense mechanism. It lubricates your ear and avoids itching occurring from the ear drying out.

It is also secreted to prevent some unwanted material, like an insect, from entering your ears.

When you do the ‘noble deed’ of removing the earwax you are actually risking yourself to get infections.

Also, you should know that your body is smarter than you think. The ear is self-cleaning. The skin in the ear acts as a converter belt that gets the wax out at regular intervals. when we move our jaws to talk or yawn or to chew, the dirt is thrown out of the ears.

The best thing to do is to bathe regularly and clean your external ears gently with a cloth.

But in case you have ear pain, then you must consult a doctor. At least, then you can be sure that you are in safe hands.

Dr. Nida Kazi

Dr Nida Kazi is a health coach & nutritionist specialising in sports nutrition and Doctor of alternative medicine (M.D, A.M). She is a fitness enthusiast and firmly believe in the priniciple of eating right and exercising regularly. She likes exploring different cuisines and finding the interesting facts behind all foods and researching their origin. And what is life without a little sliver of nature, her interests involve hiking in the woods, going on adventurous expeditions and water sports.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top button