It is not safe to use a cotton swab to clean inside your ear canal.
Despite it’s unpopularity, ear wax actually serves a very important function.
The yellowish goo – otherwise known as cerumen – protects our ears from debris, insects, and other foreign matter. It’s part of our body’s natural cleaning process. It is very common and healthy to have a certain amount in your ear canal. However, excessive ear wax can occlude the ear canal and cause hearing loss.
If you wear a hearing aid, ear wax can even cause them not work as well as they used to. A simple cleaning technique can easily fix this problem.
There are a number of ways to remove ear wax from your ears, some that can be done at home and others that a professional performs. A common misconception is that it is safe to put cotton swabs deep into your ear canal to clean out wax. This often causes the ear wax to become deeper and even more impacted in the canal, making it more difficult to remove. In addition, it is very possible to cause painful trauma to the ear. Cotton swabs should only be used to clean the external portion of the ear.
A safer option for wax removal is to purchase ear wax drops from your local drugstore or hearing healthcare professional. These drops assist in loosening ear wax from the canal so the wax can be flushed out. Once it has been softened, your hearing healthcare professional can flush it out with a device called an irrigator. An irrigator gently streams water into the ear, pushing out the wax.
Ear candling, or coning, is a common procedure in which a hollow candle is lit on one end while the other end is placed into the ear canal, thus “drawing” out the excessive wax. It is important to note that ear candling is neither effective nor safe. There have been a number of individuals who’s ears have been burned as a results of ear candling. Claims have also been made that ear candling can provide emotional well being, which has also been debunked.
A safer alternative for ear wax removal is by the use of a curette by an experienced professional. A curette is a long thing stick with a tiny cup on the end that is used to pull out the wax. Most hearing healthcare professionals have experience with wax removal with curettes and can advise you if an alternative procedure should be used. It is not recommended for individuals on blood thinners due to the sensitive and thin nature of the ear canal skin.
