04/19/2026
Did you know……
It says right on the Q-Tip box, “Do not put in ears”.
The ear is a self cleaning system. Cerumen, aka, ear wax, has a purpose. It forms about midway in the ear canal and migrates outward, carrying dirt out with it. It also moisturizes your ear canal which prevents itching. Q-Tips dry the ear canal out, causing itching, and pack wax in. We can see this when we look in the ear. Wax impaction from Q-tips has a concave look to it. Other things we can see from cotton swab use are abrasions of the ear canal, perforated ear drums causing hearing loss , and broken off pieces of the cotton swab deep in the ear canal.
One last benefit of ear wax…..bugs don’t like it. It smells and tastes bad to bugs making it a less desirable place for bugs to take up residence and as an audiologist with over 34 years experience, the last thing I want to see when I look in a patient’s ears is something looking back at me. 😳