Dr Jay Jindal Au.D. FSHAA, Consultant Audiologist

In a survey in South East England, it was found that an alarming 68% people were using cotton buds in their ears, with 76% of users using them at least weekly, if not more frequently. The primary reason (96%) given for using cotton buds was to remove earwax. When you try to clean the earwax with earbuds, it can be more harmful than not. Here are the top reasons why it is not a great idea:

WHAT IS THE HARM

1. In the 30 years leading to 2010, more than 260,000 children visited US emergency departments due to injuries related to use of cotton buds. Around 55% of them had either a hole in the eardrum or foreign body sensation. (Ameen et al, 2017)
   
2. A more dramatic illustration of how cotton buds can not only be harmful for the ear but also may damage your brain: A 31-year-old man who regularly used cotton buds got part of one stuck inside his ear without his knowledge, causing serious damage to the bones around the ear. The ear is only separated from the brain by a very thin bone so the infection then spread to the part of his brain just above the ear. A little bit of cotton left in the ear may sound harmless, but in this case, it wreaked havoc. (Charlton and Rejali, 2019) 
   
3. There are numerous other (including some personal) examples that I have from my own clinic, where earbuds have done much more damage than good. From my last 20 years of professional experience I can clinically confirm that there is no wisdom whatsoever in poking anything into your ears and in fact, the boxes of earbuds come with a warning NOT to use them in the ears!

In conclusion – do not put anything at all in the ears (nothing smaller than your elbow-goes the old adage!) And yes, this includes hairpins, tweezers, straws, paper clips, pens, pencils and every other inanimate object that you could possible contemplate using to clean your ears. I have unfortunately had the displeasure of viewing ‘the disgusting video of a London official cleaning the ear with their glasses‘ which concludes with him appearing to lick it. Perhaps my next post should cover the reasons why you shouldn’t eat earwax!

But until then, here’s some useful advice on – What to do if you have earwax or itchy ears