{"id":2049,"date":"2022-10-24T12:37:37","date_gmt":"2022-10-24T16:37:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/?p=2049"},"modified":"2022-10-24T12:38:13","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T16:38:13","slug":"is-it-ever-safe-to-use-q-tips-in-your-ears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/is-it-ever-safe-to-use-q-tips-in-your-ears\/","title":{"rendered":"Is It Ever Safe to Use Q-Tips in Your Ears?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A common question we hear from our patients at ENT & Allergy Specialists – Ear Nose and Throat Physicians and Surgeons is, \u201cIs it ever safe for me to use Q-tips in my ears?\u201d The answer is no.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

What the Research Shows<\/h2>\n\n
\n
\"An<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

One study<\/a> published in the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology <\/em>sought to uncover the most common risk factors for otitis externa (OE), sometimes known as swimmer\u2019s ear. OE is an infection of the outer ear canal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A total of 87 children ages 3.5 to 12 who were diagnosed with OE were studied. Of these, 61 children had had their ears cleaned with Q-tips during the 10 days preceding their diagnosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The researchers concluded, \u201cUse of a cotton-tip applicator to clean the ear seems to be the leading cause of otitis externa in children and should be avoided.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

Why Can\u2019t I Use a Q-Tip for My Ears?<\/h2>\n\n\n

First, it says on the box \u201cDo not insert swab into ear canal.\u201d And for good reason \u2013 rather than scooping earwax out, in most cases, it pushes it further in. This puts you at risk of earwax impaction, which causes unpleasant symptoms such as earache, itchiness, feeling of fullness in the ears, discharge from the ears, hearing<\/a> loss, tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and dizziness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, you put yourself at risk of puncturing the eardrum. Symptoms of this include sudden hearing loss, ear pain<\/a>, fluid drainage from the ear, tinnitus and high fever.<\/p>\n\n\n

Well, How Else Can I Remove Earwax?<\/h2>\n\n\n

Earwax has the important job of moistening the ear canals and trapping debris. In most cases, you don\u2019t actually need to remove your earwax, because the ears are self-cleaning! Old earwax is worked out of the ear canal through natural jaw movements when talking, chewing and yawning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you notice earwax in the outer part of the ear canal or the ear bowl and find it unsightly, you can irrigate your ears in the shower using the stream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If your earwax is impacted, you first try to soften the wax with eardrops. If this doesn\u2019t help, you need to see one of the experts at ENT & Allergy Specialists – Ear Nose and Throat Physicians and Surgeons to have it professionally removed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information or to schedule an appointment, call ENT & Allergy Specialists – Ear Nose and Throat Physicians and Surgeons today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[related-posts]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A common question we hear from our patients at is, \u201cIs it ever safe for me to use Q-tips in my ears?\u201d The answer is no. What the Research Shows One study published in the International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology sought to uncover the most common risk factors for otitis externa (OE), sometimes known as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2051,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"First, it says on the box \u201cDo not insert swab into ear canal.\u201d","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ent"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/entandallergyspecialists.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}