Do you swab your ears after taking a shower? You need to stop doing that because your ears aren’t intended for cleaning. Ears have their own hygienic process and with putting another object in your ears, you’re disrupting the body’s natural process.

That yellowish substance found in our ear that we call ear wax is actually cerumen and it’s there to protect your ears.

“The purpose of earwax is to keep your ear canal clean,” explains Dr. Douglas Backous, chair of the hearing committee of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

Earwax helps you keep the dirt and dust away from your eardrums and it also has lubricating and antibacterial properties. The bottom line is you don’t need to use cotton swabs to clean your ears because your ears clean themselves.

You’ll Never Clean The Inside of Your Ears Again After Reading This Article Healthy Life Tips June 22, 2015 No Comments Admin

Do you swab your ears after taking a shower? You need to stop doing that because your ears aren’t intended for cleaning. Ears have their own hygienic process and with putting another object in your ears, you’re disrupting the body’s natural process.

You’ll-Never-Clean-The-Inside-of-Your-Ears-Again-After-Reading-This-Article-1 What happens when you use cotton swabs?

That yellowish substance found in our ear that we call ear wax is actually cerumen and it’s there to protect your ears.

“The purpose of earwax is to keep your ear canal clean,” explains Dr. Douglas Backous, chair of the hearing committee of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery.

Earwax helps you keep the dirt and dust away from your eardrums and it also has lubricating and antibacterial properties. The bottom line is you don’t need to use cotton swabs to clean your ears because your ears clean themselves.

When you use a cotton swab, you just push the earwax deeper in your ears and it gets stuck in the parts that don’t clean themselves.

“Earwax trapped there also brings with it fungus, bacteria and viruses accumulated in the outer ear, potentially leading to pain and infection,” explains Dr. Douglas.

Pushing the earwax can also block the ear canal and that can lead to hearing loss and ruptured ear drums.

Doctors strongly advise you not to clean your ears with cotton swabs and if you really want to get your ears cleaned that need to be done by a medical professional.

“You can’t just stop cleaning your ears. Well, that’s only because you’ve created a vicious “itch and scratch cycle” for yourself. The more you rub the skin of your ears, the more histamine you release, which in turn makes the skin irritated and inflamed- just like how that mosquito bite gets itchier the more you scratch it. Plus, because of the lubricating nature of earwax, removing it can simply make your ears drier, motivating you to keep sticking swabs in there in a mistaken attempt at relief,” explains Dr. Douglas.

For those of you who can’t leave your ears alone, Dr. Douglas has a tip:

Mix 1 part white vinegar, 1 part rubbing alcohol and 1 part tap water. Add a few drops in your ears.

The bottom line is that nothing good can come out from using cotton swabs.