Why cleaning your ears might do more harm than good
Hands up, if you enjoy scraping out your ears and seeing the amount of wax extricated. I’ll admit, I belong to the club, even though I know better than to insert anything into my ears.
There’s something relaxing about the sensation when you gently drag a scraper down the ear canal. Like a light massage for your ears, if you will, or an ASMR experience that sends tingles up and down your spine.
"It's like scratching an itch," said Dr Lim Keng Hua, consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon from Mount Elizabeth Medical Centre’s Ear Nose Throat, Head & Neck Surgery – Singapore ENT Specialist Clinic. "The more you scratch, the itchier and more satisfying it feels." Even more satisfying is seeing what the scraper scoops out. And I’m sure I’m not alone in this.
A constant ringing in your ears
Do you sometimes hear a ringing, buzzing, humming or hissing that no one else seems to be bothered by? It may be constant or it may come and go. The noise can be so loud that it interferes with your ability to concentrate or hear the sounds around you.
As enigmatic and frustrating as it is, this phantom sound is very real and it is what the experts call tinnitus.
“It appears to affect those aged 40 to 55 years most,” said Joyce Lim, a senior tinnitus counsellor at Changi General Hospital (CGH). Globally, it affects 40 per cent of the population and like hearing loss, tinnitus increases with age.
Clogged Ears, Pain & Infection
How to Properly Clean Your Ears
If your ears are bothering you and you’re ready to grab a cotton swab — think again. Cotton swabs condense and impact earwax deeper into the ear canal — and you may be risking your hearing each time you reach for a swab. In fact, many do-it-yourself ear-cleaning methods do more harm than good. Although unpleasant, earwax has nothing to do with personal hygiene and the ear canal naturally cleanses itself through your body’s everyday movements.
Here are a few simple tips to help you properly clean ears without damaging this delicate sense organ:
- Dampen a soft washcloth with warm water to clean the outside of your ear.
- Clean the outside of your ear with cotton balls, but do not insert them into your ear canal.
- Use an earwax softener to make removal easier.
- Ask your doctor’s office to remove wax during your regular exam.
If you must remove earwax, remember these safety tips:
- Do not clean your ears with bobby pins, twisted napkin corners, or other long pointed objects.
- Do not insert cotton balls or cotton swabs into the ear canal. They will merely push the wax deeper into the ear canal, possibly causing a blockage.
- Do not use ear candles. The Food and Drug Administration issued a public warning in 2010 that the use of ear candles can lead to serious injuries.
