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Hey, listen up!

You’re not supposed to use cotton buds in your ears, as wild as that might seem considering the prevailing sentiment that you can.

Thanks to decades of confusing advertising around the product, which are often marketed as make-up application and removal aids, when you think of cotton buds, you still think of cleaning ears, right?

Don’t worry, you and every other Tom, Dick, and Harry have this misconception.

If you read the warning on the label for Woolworths’ ‘Paper Stem Buds’, for example, you’ll likely be scratching your head wondering whether they’re for your ears or not: “When cleaning ears or nose, use gentle movements and take care not to insert the bud too deeply, as this can damage sensitive tissue. Do not insert into the ear canal.”

Thanks for the clarity.

While a version of these warnings appears on most cotton swab brands these days, your best bet is to actually just keep them well away from your ears.

Take your cue from a team of researchers – all ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists – who wrote in a 2011 paper for the British Journal of General Practice, per The Daily Maverick:

“The use of cotton buds inside ears has widely been condemned worldwide by otolaryngologists. This is due to well-documented complications including trauma, impacted ear wax, infection, and retention of the cotton bud. The most common mode of accidental penetrating ear injury in children is cotton-bud induced”.

But still, people are persistent in putting them in their ears, with researchers finding that 76% of patients at three primary care centres in the southeast of England used cotton buds to clean their ears at least once a week.

It probably has something to do with this 1982 Betty White Q-tips advert that came out a whole decade after research initially pointed out the risks of cleaning the ear with cotton buds:

While today’s manufacturers don’t exactly joke too obviously about the dangers of their product if used on ears, the general wink-wink, nudge-nudge still exists.

To dispel the myth of the Q-tip, you need to realise that ears are actually pretty handy at cleaning themselves:

The role of earwax in the ear canal, also known by its medical term, cerumen, is also well documented in various academic studies, such as this one from the Bhutan Health Journal: “[Cerumen] serves to protect, clean, and lubricate the skin of the ear canal … Thus ear has a self-cleansing mechanism…”

…Dr Robert H Shmerling, a senior editor for Harvard Medical School’s Harvard Health Publishing further clarifies: “Among other things, cerumen is a natural moisturiser, preventing the skin inside the ear from becoming too dry; traps dirt and dust before they can reach deep into the canal; absorbs dead skin cells and debris; prevents bacteria and other infectious organisms from reaching the inner ear.”

Even for those people who battle with a particular buildup of earwax, cotton buds are not recommended. Rather, doctors advise over-the-counter ear drops that can soften the earwax and allow it to drain out more naturally.

Otherwise, you can visit a healthcare professional who can look inside your ear and use instruments specifically designed to remove earwax.

I’m a fan of the ocean dip, jumping on one foot with head banging to each side manoeuvre. Works wonders.

Speaking of the ocean in relation to cotton buds, they’re a sad addition to all the plastic pollution.

Image: Justin Hofman / Wildlife Photographer of the Year

At least Woolies’ cotton buds are made of paper – just keep them away from your ears.

[source:dailymaverick]