Place the Q-Tips. This is the right way to clean your ears
Keeping your ears clean and removing excess wax buildup is an important part of good personal hygiene. How you proceed with it is equally important. Despite what most of us have learned to grow up, you should not push a cotton swab into your ears. Here’s a safe way to keep your hearing at bay and avoid your favorites, if necessary. Earphones.
The truth about Q-Tips
The cotton swab, well known as the Q-Tip, is the most common device used to clean your ears. Its drawbacks illustrate the fundamental problems of using these types of equipment to remove otosis.
Thanks to its long, narrow shape, Q-Tips are more likely to push ear waves Inside Your ears rather than bringing it out. When you try to use it to clean your ear canal, you risk simply compressing your ear waves and creating clogs that are hard to hear.
Worse, pushing the Q-tip too hard or pushing it into the ear canal canal can actually make holes in the ear drum. The ear canal is Only about 1 inch (2.5 cm) deepso there is not much margin for error. 1 Ear, nose and throat expert CNET spoke previously Patients who had severely damaged their eardrums were treated by answering the phone with a Q-tip protruding from one of their ears. It’s a phone that can really ruin your day!
It is generally recommended to use cotton swabs or just tissue or a damp, clean rag to clean the outer part of the ear outside the canal.
Ear Cleaning 101
What we might think is that ear waves are actually essential to your ear health. According to Harvard Medical School, it not only lubricates the ear canal. Protects the eardrumIt is also antibacterial and antifungal properties. It naturally protects against harmful accumulation, collects dead skin cells and dirt, which gradually moves towards the outer ear.
In other words, ear wax will naturally self-clean your ears. In most cases, you don’t need to do anything to dig into the Eustachian tubes or clean them. They will do their job on their own.
That said, some people produce more earwaves than others, which can lead to excessive accumulation, leading to discomfort and hearing problems. Hearing aid wearerin particular, you may suffer from excessive otitis buildup, due to the extra vibrations in the ears. Whatever the cause, if the ear wax is approaching you, it is important to meet your doctor and evaluate the best treatment course.
If your doctor is giving a thumbs, there are several DIY ear cleaning methods that can be done safely and effectively.
- Wipe in a damp washroom: This is the safest and best of all. You cannot actually enter the ear canal with your finger. Gently rubbing the outside with a damp cloth is usually enough to remove the buildup of otosis.
- Rinse your Eustachian tube: If you think that your Eustachian tube may have stubborn ear rocks, you often rinse it according to Harvard Medical School. Soak the cotton ball in warm water, saline, mineral oil, or hydrogen peroxide, hold it over the ear canal, and tilt the opposite ear towards the floor. After dripping down and soaking in wax for about a minute, tilt your head inverted and drip the soft wax.
- Try out the commercial ear drops: These drops provide roughly the same “ear irrigation” as the method mentioned above, but may come with drip or bulb syringes. Your doctor recommends avoiding syringes if your eardrum is damaged.
Things you don’t use to clean your ears
The above ear wave removal methods are safe to do, but there are some popular tools and techniques to avoid. These may be popular on social media, but that doesn’t mean they’re safe for your ears.
- Ear candle: Ear-wheeling kits, which have become increasingly popular in recent years, claim to soften the wax and bring it out by illuminating the flames on the long funnels placed in the Eustachian tube. According to Consumer Reports, this is how it works Very suspicious Between the doctors. The Food and Drug Administration is long We recommend using ear candles Because there is a risk of burns, punctures, etc.
- Ear cleaning kit that allows you to get deep inside the ears: Some kits offer small spade-like or drill-type tools that promise to pull wax out of the ear canal. However, doctors will caution about these types of instruments. Some of them can go dangerously deep into your canal, while others are sharp enough to cut your ear canal.
- Sharp objects: As mentioned above, it’s best to avoid sharp ones, whether it’s a store-bought tool or a Bobby Pin. Cuts can cause bleeding and scabs, which can interfere with hearing and expose you to infection.
Who should clean your ears at home?
People with diabetes or those who rely on thin blood levels should be especially careful about cleaning their ears. These conditions make it more difficult to stop bleeding. And it’s especially problematic when you get too roughly clean inside the ears inside the ears.
However, it’s not just people who should think carefully before digging their ears. In most cases, it is best to leave the ear canal cleansing with a professional. They have better tools and better views and help you to safely remove earwaves.
FAQ
What is the safest way to clean your ears?
The safest way to keep your ears clean is to wet the cloth with warm water and wipe the outer ears. It is best to use warm water. Because it helps to “detach” the area. You can also use irrigation methods to rinse your ears. You may feel that the long, narrow shape of the Q-Tip is the most effective way to keep your ears clean, but the design can lead to severe injuries, especially if the Q-Tip is too deep.
Do I need to remove the wax from my ears?
Earwax may look glossy, but in reality it doesn’t need to be removed. This waxy material plays an important role in keeping the inner part of the ear protected and lubricated. Earwave removal should only be considered if it is causing ear pain or some degree of hearing loss.