Last Updated on January 19, 2021
Can you damage your ear with a cotton bud? The answer is yes! Cotton swabs cause more harm than good to our ears. Even though it is the most common item that we use and have been using for our entire lives to clean ear wax, in reality, it only ends up cleaning around 40% of it while pushing the rest of the wax further into our ear canal, which can result in hearing problems and future infections. So why exactly should we avoid using cotton swabs, and what are other healthier options for ear hygiene? Stay tuned to find out!
1. You may not need to clean your ears
Just like other parts of our bodies, ears do a pretty good job at cleaning themselves. The ear’s actual shape allows wax or cerumen to come off naturally during your sleep or while taking a shower. As long as you take your daily shower and clean the outer parts of your ear, you should be fine! If the wax is something that deeply bothers you, don’t worry, we have some healthy cleaning alternatives for you!
2. Wax is good for our ear health
Did you know that ear wax, also known as cerumen, is super good for our ears? Even though it might sound gross, ear wax has a lot of antifungal and antibacterial properties. This means having ear wax is a great way to prevent dryness, itchiness, scaling, and many other things, making it an ally to our health. Besides, our ears need to have wax for lubrication purposes. It also helps to prevent fungus growth and keeps bugs from crawling inside.
3. You can rupture your eardrum
Our delicate eardrum can be easily ruptured just by applying a little bit of pressure to it. This means that whenever you clean your ears with a cotton swab, you can accidentally rupture it. Everyone has had that bad sensation when they accidentally go too far with their q-tip inside their ears. It’s a feeling that nobody wants to relieve, but most of us have. A ruptured eardrum is one of the main causes of ear pain and ear loss, often after an “ear cleaning session.” Be careful and avoid placing the q-tip deep inside your ear. So how can we clean our ears without harming them, you may ask. Here, we have the answers for you. Check below these four quick and easy methods on how to clean and take care of your ears without compromising its health:
