Many spears have been broken around such a seemingly banal procedure as cleaning ears.
Some people believe that ears should be cleaned thoroughly with a cotton swab, after soaking it in hydrogen peroxide.
Some people are sure that cleaning your ears is not necessary at all. As usual, the truth is somewhere in the middle. Let's figure out what's what and how to clean your ears correctly.
If you don't clean your ears regularly, earwax plugs may form and inflammation may begin - this is a common belief. But, in fact, earwax is a natural lubricant of the ear canal, a mixture of sweat and sebum secretions.
The formation of earwax is one of the self-regulation mechanisms of our body, with the help of which dead skin cells are cleaned out of the ear canal. Earwax does not accumulate in the ear at all - it is a kind of conveyor that cleans the ear canal and, at the same time, protects the inner ear from infection from the outside. How does this happen?
When our jaw moves (during talking, chewing), the sulfur conveyor moves towards the outer ear, taking all the “garbage” with it.
What happens when we use a cotton swab? We disrupt its function and, what's more, we push the wax even deeper into the ear, right up to the eardrum. The wax plug is ready!
In addition, even the most careful cleaning of the ear canal leads to the skin of the ear becoming irritated, our body begins to defend itself from “aggression”, and therefore the ear produces even more wax.
We get the opposite result: by getting carried away with thorough cleaning of our ears, we provoke the formation of earwax plugs, inflammation, and increase the production of earwax by the body.
So how do you clean your ears properly? You should remove wax only at the entrance to the external auditory canal, without compacting it further towards the eardrum.
While taking a shower, wipe your ears with a soap solution and carefully remove any soap residue.
Cotton swabs will still have to be used, as access to the folds of the auricle is sometimes difficult, especially in children. For babies, you can wipe the auricle with a swab.
Sometimes the wax that comes out is very dense, compacted, and it is not always possible to remove it by wiping the ear. In this case, the tampon can be slightly moistened with olive oil.
And, of course, it is necessary to explain to the child the basics of hygiene of our main organ of hearing.
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Expert: Arkhipova Julia
