Does earwax get more and more? Can improper ear-pulling damage your hearing or even put your life at risk? Yes, these are true. I once saw an elderly male patient with type 2 diabetes and hyperlipidemia combined with coronary heart disease who suffered from necrotizing otitis externa after taking a bath and pulling out his ear with a cotton swab, which caused facial nerve paralysis (facial palsy) and intracranial infection. Today we’ll talk to you about ear pulling.
What are the ingredients inside earwax?
Earwax is a gray, orange or yellowish waxy secretion secreted by the skin glands of the ear canal on its own, along with dust and dander mixed in. Its main components are 60% keratin, 12% to 20% saturated or unsaturated fatty acids, alcohols, squalene, and 6% to 9% cholesterol.
What we call “wet ears” and “dry ears” are actually determined by the difference in sebaceous gland secretion, while “dry ears” have earwax that falls off more easily, and In “wet ears”, oily earwax is more likely to accumulate in the ear canal.
How many truths do you know about ear cleaning?
Earwax has a certain significance, as it serves as a lubricant and moisturizer, protects the eardrum, is antibacterial, anti-noise and self-cleaning. In general, the outer ear canal will have a normal metabolism and self-cleaning effect, so we should not pull out our ears. However, many people are accustomed to pulling out their own ears, using long nails, cotton swabs, ear-digging spoons and other tools. In fact, the risk of pulling out your own ears is really not small.
1. Excessive force can lead to perforation of the eardrum, hearing loss, and even complications of otitis media.
2. Improper methods may push the earwax deep into the ear canal, forming cerumen embolism, leading to hearing loss and pressure on the eardrum causing tinnitus and vertigo. And this condition may make it more difficult to clean up during the consultation.
3. Digging with an unclean ear picker, long nails, etc. is prone to digging out tiny wounds, which can easily cause fungal infections in the external ear canal. In particular, some people believe in ear picking and pedicure stores, not knowing that their sterilization is irregular and can easily cause cross infection. The increasing number of patients with fungal otitis externa in our clinic is mostly related to irregular ear picking. Some patients also like to use various drops of medicine into the ear canal after ear-picking in the name of sterilization, but this can also destroy the normal skin barrier and may lead to eczema in the external ear canal, which can become increasingly itchy and lead to other secondary infections.
4. Sharing ear digging tools can transmit diseases such as HPV, the most common one, which can cause papillomas in the external ear canal.
5. Ear wax can really get bigger and bigger the more you dig, and the more you dig, the more it will be secreted. Also, the newly secreted earwax may change from flakes to debris, reducing the ability to protect your ears.
How do I properly “dig my ears out”?
From a health perspective, ear wax does not need to be treated if there is no obvious discomfort in the ear. If the amount of earwax causes stuffiness and swelling, or if it causes pain or hearing loss, you need to seek professional help.
A large amount of earwax accumulation in the external ear canal is clinically referred to as “external ear canal cerumen embolism”. Clinically, middle ear diseases such as otitis media can be confused with earwax embolism, so it is easy to delay the condition by taking out the ear yourself.
For patients with systemic diseases such as diabetes mellitus, narrowing of the external ear canal, no previous cleaning of the ear canal, “oily ears”, itchy ears with exudate, etc., it is recommended not to take out the ear by yourself but to go to the hospital!
There is a lot to be said for a small ear wax, so put down the cotton swab in your hand and come to the hospital if you have any problems.
