Many people forget that cotton buds are marketed for make-up, and as a result many people use them to clean their ears, a practice that continues despite numerous warnings from medical professionals.

Did you know the warning “do not use inside the ear canal”, or similar wording, appears on the labels of almost all cotton bud brands.

What the doctors say

Ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists, wrote in a 2011 paper for the British Journal of General Practice that, “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,”.

So what are the risks?

Ear buds don’t really remove the ear wax, but pushes it further down the ear canal onto the ear drum, causing build-up and severely limiting the ear’s self-cleaning capability.

Cotton buds can damage the inner ear

It’s not just by pushing wax down into the ear that cotton buds can cause harm. Although they may seem soft to the touch of your fingers, in a sensitive space such as the ear they have a lot of potential for damage. If you push one into your ear too hard then you could instantly perforate the eardrum, for example, which is incredibly painful.

There are of course instances where earwax needs to be cleaned due to a medical condition (minority of people). But even for this, the cotton but is still not recommended.

What to use?

The best Ear Cleaner to use is a device with a grooved or spiraled tip. This will allow you to remove the ear wax build-up without pushing it deeper into the ear canal. You can also use the ear wax cleaner with water, to ensure that the wax is softened before removal. If you are interested, go have a look at what Creatorishop has to offer and shop our unique Ear Cleaner now.