How do you clean your ears?

If you are like most of us out there, its most likely a Q-tip. It seems odd because they are the perfect size and shape to clean the ear canal, yet there is a warning on the label. A label which I personally never really saw or paid attention to until one day a friend of mine mentioned it to me...

“Do not insert swab into ear canal.”

So where the heck did we get the notion to stick these in our ears?

Ear specialists actually warn us to NOT stick Q-tips in our ear  and that using a Q-tip could actually cause a lot of serious damage.

Heres why:

1) Hearing loss and balance problems: The ear drum is actually quite sensitive. There are tiny little bones in your ear that are super fragile too, they are the smallest bones in 

your body. If you stick the q-tip into your ear so that the entire cotton bit has gone in, you’ve gone in too far. You’ve pressed on the delicate eardrum, sending shock waves into the inner ear, causing potential problems with hearing and balance.

2) Your body creates earwax for a reason: it’s supposed to be in there to protect the ear. It makes them waterproof and it’s naturally acidic, preventing infection in your ear. Constantly removing it leaves your ears defenseless and vulnerable.

And since the Q-tip is exactly the size of your ear canal, when you put it in your ear, most often than not you, you shove the wax in deeper and it gets stuck creating an unnecessary problem for yourself.

The safest way to clean your ear is with a piece of tissue paper over your finger. As far as your finger can go in is as far as mother nature intended for you to clean out.

All the best,

The Water Liberty Team

References:

"The Strange Life of Q-Tips, The Most Bizarre Thing People Buy." The Washington Post. Web. 20 Jan 2016.
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/01/20/we-have-a-q-tips-problem/?utm_term=.fad842e9aeba>.

"This Will Make You Never, Ever Want To Clean Your Ears Again". The Huffington Post. Web. 6 Aug 2016.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/dont-clean-ear-qtip_n_5600401>