Why You Shouldn’t Use Q-Tips For Cleaning Your Ears Anymore

It seems like 2017 has nearly started, and yet for some reason everything that I currently attribute to common sense is being upended. Whether it be the weather, politics, or health, it seems that humorously everything is now lies.
Today’s revelatory new fact flipping my world upside down comes straight from the doctor’s office and the new advisory warnings that Q-Tips should not be used for ear hygiene purposes.
According to revised guidelines published in the Journal of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, cotton swabs are detrimental to consumer health and the use of the product could lead to hearing impairment. The study continues:

“Although empirical data are quite limited, consensus opinion from clinicians is that cerumen impaction may be exacerbated by using hearing aids and cotton-tipped swabs. A higher incidence of cerumen has been reported in children whose ears were cleaned with cotton-tipped swabs. One study found that inserting foreign objects into the ears was a common practice in >90% of health workers. Although cotton buds were most commonly used, individuals also inserted ballpoint pen covers and tips, matchsticks, chicken feathers, and bobby pins into their ear canals to clean them. Approximately 9% reported injuries to their ears as a result of cleaning, including skin abrasions, eardrum perforation, and cerumen impaction.”

Despite the Q-Tip brand explicitly stating the use of the product for ear hygiene is unhealthy, general consumers globally will still use it for this very purpose.
Ear wax (medically called Cerumen) naturally varies from person to person and occasionally can cause excess build up which can result in mild hearing dullness; however, the body naturally processes and utilizes the wax to protect your ears.
At the end of the day, there are many things humans use on their bodies that are helpful and harmful to natural balance, don’t let a cotton swab be one of them.