It’s a funny oul office we work in. I can’t for the LIFE of me remember how we got talking about cleaning our ears today, but it happened… and here we are.
For years we’ve been told not to clean our ears with cotton buds. It turns out it’s a big fear of ours and that episode of Girls when Lena Dunham’s character burst her eardrum didn’t help the situation.
Look away now if you’re squeamish.
UGH! I know… we’re sorry for that.
It turns out it’s actually quite dangerous to clean your ears with cotton buds, it can cause a host of nasty medical issues that nobody wants to deal with.
Anything from embedded wax to the terrifying burst eardrum. Medical experts advise people to NEVER place anything in the ear canal to clean out dirt or debris.
Okay, we’re really not trying to scare anyone here, so let’s get down to business.
Do we really need to clean our ears at all? According to HealthyHearing.com the answer is yes AND no. It turns out when you’re in the shower during hair washing or showers, enough water enters the ear canal to loosen the wax that has accumulated.
The skin in the ear canal also grows outwardly in a spiral pattern which naturally removes any build up of wax.
Basically, we don’t want to compare ears to vaginas, but they have the same self-cleaning properties, so if the shoe fits.
Doctors can clean out a heavy build up of wax with a mixture of peroxide and water in a relatively painless procedure.
It terms of other at-home remedies we’re reluctant to tell you to put ANYTHING in your ears (due to terrifying eardrum clip above), so just know that the ears do take care of themselves.
If you’re concerned about a heavy build up of wax or infection, a trip to the GP should sort it out.
