Did you know most people have been using cotton swabs wrong all their lives?
Keep reading to find out five major reasons why Q-tips or cotton swabs are a big NO for your ears.
1. Because the manufacturer warns against it.
Q-tips are a major consumer product, if not the only, whose common use is precisely the one the manufacturer explicitly warns against, stating: “do not insert inside the ear canal” on every box of Q-tips. Today, there is not a single ear on the official Q-tips website. There’s a woman using the cotton swabs to apply makeup to her lips, a child using it for his finger cut, a dog, a baby, and a spick and span living room, among other things.
2. Because the medical industry warns against it.
Dennis Fitzgerald, an otolaryngologist in Washington says, “When I treat people with recurring ear problems, I make them promise they’re going to throw away their Q-tips and never buy them again. The ones who keep coming back with infections are the ones who don’t listen.” “If it were up to me, they wouldn’t be on the market,” he adds.
3. Because you don’t want to puncture the most delicate part of your ear- the ear drum.
The shape, size, and texture of cotton swabs is such that inserting them into your ears tends to push wax inwards, toward your ear drum, rather than take it out. This can even make you lose your hearing in your ear forever.
4. Because they’re one of most common contributors to ear problems.
These cotton swabs being exactly the same size of the ear canal, can induce hearing loss. Once inserted in to the ear, they can can rupture the ear drum or damage the small middle ear bones if deeply inserted.
5. Last, but not the least- don’t remove the ear wax.
What you’re actually taking out is supposed to be in there, the naturally produced ear wax. Ear wax can in fact be compared to tears, which help lubricate and protect our eyeballs. Wax does something similar for the inner walls of the ear canal. So leave the wax in your ears because it waterproofs them. It’s also a natural antibiotic and acidic in nature as it prevents severe infection in your ears.
