Q-Tips (cotton swabs) can be dangerous for our ears!
Often we do things out of habit and rarely ask ourselves about the real consequences of what we are doing, sometimes we are quite convinced of our actions and we perform them without thinking.
However, in some cases, it can happen that a daily routine or action may lead, without our knowledge, to unpleasant consequences.
This is the case for Q-Tips (cotton swabs aka cotton buds) which should be used with caution, and actually, it would be better not to use them at all to clean our ears. A professor at New York University explains in detail why.
Here are some very simple reasons ...
In the video, here below, William H. Shapiro, an associate professor, at University Langone Medical Center in New York explains that resorting to cotton swabs to clean our ears is, yes, the traditional method but this is neither the most effective nor the safest.
When we introduce a cotton swab into the ear canal, we simply push the earwax down the ear canal amassing it against the eardrum. The eardrum vibrates when our ear picks up sounds and with earwax buildup, this vibration becomes weaker, hence we hear less and less.
What the professor tells us is that earwax is a secretion and it is not something dirty to be eliminated. This earwax is a natural and healthy deterrent against insects trying to sneak into your ear and it also has an acidic component which protects the ear, for example, from fungal infections. Furthermore, earwax traps hair, dust, and dead skin cells so that they will not affect or damage your hearing.
In short, earwax is not dirty or unhealthy and should be removed as little as possible.
