- Hi, guys, Cliff Olson, Doctor of Audiology
and Founder of Applied Hearing Solutions
in Phoenix, Arizona.
And in this video, I'm gonna show you the best way
to clean earwax out of your ears using a cotton swab,
coming up.
(upbeat music)
Remember that old saying that you should never stick
anything smaller than your elbow inside of your ear canal?
Well, it may seem silly,
but it actually makes a lot of sense
because I've seen firsthand the damage
that small objects like cotton swabs can do to a human ear.
Not only can the improper use of a cotton swab cause
permanent damage to the structures of your ear,
it can also lead to an impaction of earwax
that can give you a significant hearing loss
and cause a lot of pain.
Now, the manufacturers that sell these cotton swabs
are not dumb.
They know that some consumers are gonna use these products
in a way that they are not intended
which could result in serious bodily injury
and also result in expensive surgeries
to correct these injuries.
One brand of cotton swabs called Q-tips,
which everybody's probably familiar with,
actually has a warning label that states:
Do not insert swab into ear canal.
Entering the ear canal could cause injury.
If used to clean ears,
stroke swab gently around the outer surface of the ear only.
Keep out of reach of children.
Of course, I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice,
but I would suspect that this warning label on this package
would make it very difficult for you
to mount a legal argument against this company
if you did in fact injure yourself using their product.
With that said,
if you do happen to injure yourself using a Q-tip
or any other brand of cotton swab for that matter
by sticking it into your ear canal,
then you are likely going to be on the hook
for some expensive medical bills.
But that does not mean
that you can't or shouldn't use a cotton swab
to clean your ears.
And this is exactly why I wanna show you
how properly using a cotton swab can be a great way
to keep your ears clean.
But before I get into the specifics
of why you should use a cotton swab and how to do it safely,
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That being said, let's discuss why you may want to consider
using a cotton swab as a part of your overall ear hygiene.
The human ear has three parts.
You have the outer ear
which includes the pinna, the ear canal, and the eardrum,
the middle ear which includes the middle ear bones,
middle ear space, and Eustachian tube,
and the inner ear which includes the cochlea,
vestibular semicircular canals,
and the auditory and vestibular nerves.
The pinna, ear canal, and eardrum
are all made up of epithelial tissue,
otherwise known as skin.
The skin inside of the ear canal has glands
that secrete a waxy substance known as cerumen,
which is also known as earwax.
Different people produce different amounts of earwax.
Some people produce a very small amount of earwax,
and other people produce a ton of earwax.
Earwax naturally migrates its way outside of your ear canals
to the point where it actually falls out of your ear
or it gets washed out
when you clean your ears with soap and water.
Some earwax is normal and actually healthy.
This earwax will coat your ear canal wall
which can prevent against itching.
It is also antimicrobial so it prevents against infections.
And it creates a barrier of objects
going into your ear canal that might hit your eardrum.
As with anything,
too much of a good thing can actually be a bad thing,
and the same thing holds true with earwax.
So if you have a bunch of earwax
building up inside of your ears,
it can create a wall that can block sound
from entering into your ear
which actually gives you a hearing loss.
Of course, if this earwax ends up plugging up your earbuds
like your Apple AirPods
or your hearing aids if you happen to have a hearing loss,
then this can also be a huge problem.
This is why cleaning your ears regularly is so important
and why using cotton swabs can be extremely beneficial
to prevent this earwax from causing major issues.
Remember according to the warning label
on a box of cotton swabs,
it is not safe to take a cotton swab
and stick it inside of your ear canal.
But, otherwise, using a cotton swab
to clean your ears is safe.
This means that using a cotton swab on your pinna
and the opening of your ear canal are totally okay.
Knowing this, what is the best way to use a cotton swab
to clean out your ears?
Well, I actually recommend that you go and take a shower
and let some shower water gently get into your ear canal,
which will help wash out some of this earwax
if it happens to be deeper inside of your ear.
And this is totally okay
as long as you don't have a perforation or a hole
inside of your eardrum.
After you get out of the shower,
then you want to take that cotton swab
and work it anywhere inside of these crevices
on the pinna of your ear
and just around the opening of your ear canal.
If you do it that way, you're not risking
having that cotton swab push wax further inside of your ear
or rupturing your ear drum.
If you do this process regularly,
then earwax never has the opportunity to build up
to the point where it could cause issues like hearing loss
or plugging up devices
like your earbuds or your hearing aids.
If you do not feel comfortable
shooting shower water inside of your ear canal,
then you can use an over-the-counter earwax softener
like EARWAX MD or Debrox.
You can also use hydrogen peroxide.
All you have to do is let those sit
inside of your ear canals for a few minutes,
then you wanna flush that out with some warm water,
and you can use a product like a Wax Blaster MD
or any other squirt bottle that they sell online.
Again, just make sure
that you do not have a hole in your eardrum
because if you do, using any one of these products
or even just water inside of your ear canals
is going to be extremely painful.
Now, you may never find
another audiologist or medical professional
that tells you that it's okay to use a cotton swab
to clean your ears.
But I cannot stress this enough:
Do not insert a cotton swab into your ear canal.
You run the risk of causing a lot of damage.
The human ear canal is approximately one inch in length,
and a cotton swab is about three inches.
Now, males have a little bit longer ear canals.
Females have a little bit shorter ear canals.
But I've seen ear canals that are extremely short,
which means that you might think that you're being safe
by sticking a cotton swab
just past the opening of your ear canal,
but in reality, you may be millimeters away
from causing serious damage.
If you do decide to insert a cotton swab
inside of your ear canal
and you manage to avoid serious damage of your eardrum,
then you could actually be packing wax
further inside of your canal
which can lead to other issues.
Let me show you what I mean with the help of my buddy Carl
from head simulations.
Carl has some earwax inside of his ear canal,
and he's trying to get this earwax out using a cotton swab.
Even though he is successful
at getting some of the earwax out using a cotton swab,
he has actually made the situation even worse
because he pushed his earwax further into his ear canal,
causing a significant amount of discomfort.
To add insult to injury,
he has now created a complete impaction
that will give him a 30-decibel reduction
in his hearing ability,
which is the equivalent of wearing a foam hearing protector.
For most individuals, other than Carl,
using a cotton swab can be extremely beneficial
by keeping your ears clean enough
to prevent unnecessary visits to an audiologist
or an otolaryngologist.
However, if you do experience perceived hearing loss
or discomfort inside of your ear due to earwax,
then you should contact
an audiologist or otolaryngologist immediately.
By performing otoscopy inside of your ear canal,
a professional will be able to visualize your earwax
and then take the steps necessary
to safely extract this earwax using a curette
or flush this earwax out using irrigation.
At the end of the day,
using a cotton swab to clean your ears
is a great idea as long as you use that cotton swab safely
and you do not stick it inside your ear canal.
That's it for this video.
If you have any questions,
leave them in the comments section below.
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Also feel free to check out my website, DrCliffAuD.com.
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