Dust-free swabs have many uses, but don't really use them to clean your ears

According to the latest recommendations from the American Academy of Otolaryngology, if you're in the habit of cleaning your ears with dust-free cotton swabs, stop doing it. The society recently released updated guidelines on ear care, reminding not to over-clean your ears or to put anything, including cotton swabs, in your ears, and to seek medical attention if there are any hearing problems.


Picking the ear with a cotton swab can cause more and more earwax in the ear, which is medically called earwax embolism. Ears have their own cleaning methods that gradually drain the earwax, but cleaning with a lint-free cotton swab will push the wax back into the ear.



Earwax is by no means the most comfortable thing you can think of, but it can help keep your ears healthy. Not only does earwax help clean your ears, but it also helps prevent dryness and helps your ears sweat naturally. This stuff also stops dust particles from entering the ear canal, which normally, through any jaw movement such as chewing and the growth of skin cells, will slowly push the earwax out of the ear, harden and eventually fall out of the ear or be flushed out.

But sometimes the process doesn't work properly. About 1 in 10 children have abnormal earwax buildup, and about 1 in 20 adults have the same problem, and it's more common with age. If this happens, the society recommends seeing a doctor for help, but not stuffing things in your ears anyway.

“Patients often assume that they are cleaning their ears with lint-free swabs, ear scoops, and other tools to prevent earwax buildup, but in reality this often leads to further problems, pushing the earwax deeper and into the ear canal. adverse effects.”Says Seth Schwartz of the Otolaryngology Society.

He also cautions that anything inserted into the ear can damage the eardrum and ear canal, either temporarily or permanently. Doctors recommend that if you notice an abnormal buildup of earwax, deafness, or ringing in your ears, seek medical attention.

This is not the latest advice, but something that experts have been reminding for many years, hopefully this information will be widely disseminated——Cotton swabs may have many uses, but cleaning ears is certainly not what it's for.