Tips for cleaning your ears — and why ENT doctors want you to stop removing earwax with cotton swabs and at-home irrigation kits

“Don’t put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear.” It’s the kind of thing you might have heard your grandmother say, but for the most part, it’s true, she says. Dr.otolaryngologist and professor of otolaryngology at UVA Health, in Virginia.

And yes, that means you shouldn’t use cotton swabs to remove wax from your ears. According to experts, this common practice is not only unnecessary, but also risky. Here’s why.

What’s wrong with cleaning my ears with a cotton swab?

Most people have probably stuck a cotton swab in their ears at some point. The experience can be satisfying – whether it’s because of the tingling it causes in your ear as you work, or because of the gunk you managed to clean up. So why do many ENT doctors advise against it?

This can make the earwax problem worse.

Dr. Minka Schofield, clinical professor of otolaryngology at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, acknowledges that most people have been taught to clean their ears using a cotton swab. But that doesn’t mean it’s effective. “The problem with this technique is that we can push the wax deeper into the ear and make any impaction worse,” It ishe told Yahoo Life.

Cotton swabs can damage the skin inside the ear:

The skin in the ear canal, Kesser notes, is delicate and cotton swabs can abrade it. This can cause what he calls microcuts, “which [can be] entry points for bacteria, which can cause ear infections.”

Schofield adds that overcleaning can create a lack of moisture inside the ear canal and also cause an infection in the outer ear. “If you cause trauma to the ear canal, it can result in ear bleeding,” she says.

They can damage the eardrum or become displaced inside the ear.

Both Kesser and Schofield have seen cotton swabs pushed so deep into patients’ ear canals that they rupture the eardrum and cause a perforated eardrum.

Sometimes the cotton tip of the swab can also come out of the ear, says Schofield. This can make hearing muffled. It can cause an infection if the cotton remains there long enough.

“I think people need to be careful because the ear is a very delicate space and manipulating the ear, although it may seem like a minor thing to do, can cause significant damage to the ear canal and eardrum,” says Schofield. So avoid sticking things in your ears.”

Why you don’t need them anyway

The good news is that you don’t have to worry too much about keeping your ears clean.

Wax is normal and good for your ears.

“A lot of people associate earwax with being dirty or unclean, so there’s this kind of aggressive need to keep your ears clean somehow, but we want a certain degree of wax in the ear,” says Schofield.

Waxing is beneficial because it “provides a greasy layer to protect the skin from bacteria,” adds Kesser.

The ears are self-cleaning systems.

What’s fascinating about the ear canal, according to Kesser, is that the skin inside it migrates. “So if you put an ink stain on the eardrum, that ink stain will migrate and come out of the ear canal.” As the skin moves, it also carries debris and wax, he adds, doing the work to keep the canal clean.

What What can you do to keep them safely clean?

The ear canal naturally pushes wax toward the ear opening. “That’s where you want to clean – the outer opening of the ear,” says Schofield. But don’t grab a cotton swab; Kesser encourages people to use their little finger and a cool washcloth to clean this part of the outer ear.

Although most people do not need to clean the inside of their ears, there are those who do need wax removal, but this cleaning should not be attempted at home. Kesser opposes ear irrigation kits, and both he and Schofield warn against the so-called use of ear candles — a popular practice in which people light a candle and place the unlit end in the ear canal. They say that not only do ear candles not remove earwax, but they can also be extremely dangerous and cause burns.

Instead, people should see their otolaryngologist for a professional in-office cleaning. If your ears are very itchy, you have a sudden hearing loss or feeling of fullness in the ear, or if there is fluid drainage or blood coming out of the ear (a sign of infection), you may need to see your otolaryngologist about a possible impaction.

Other people who may need annual or biannual ear cleaning trips are those who wear hearing aids or, Schofield adds, regularly use any type of earphone or in-ear bud. “If you have some type of chronic blockage in your ear or something that you put in your ear canal for a long period of time every day, you run the risk of the earwax not being able to exit the ear canal freely and potentially causing wax buildup in the ear canal. “, she says.