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By Veronica Beltran

are q-tips a yay or nay for your ears

TYH: Do you use cotton swabs to clean your ear? Here’s why you shouldn’t

Jul 14, 2020 | 6:00 AM

I can’t be the only one that uses a Q-tip to clean my ear. Actually, I know I am not the only one. And every time I do it there’s a little voice in my head that says “you shouldn’t be doing this Veronica.”

This week we once again spoke with Patrick Dinelle, Pharmacy Manager at Third Ave. Pharmacy and he explained to us why we should keep the cotton swabs away from our ear holes.

“Q-tip injuries are actually fairly common, it’s the highest rate of objects being put in the ear.”–Patrick Dinelle, Manager, Third Ave. Pharmacy

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According to Dinelle, using Q-tips in your ear can potentially rupture your eardrum and push wax further into your ear canal causing issues.

Cotton swabs usually have a warning on their packaging which asks users to not stick them in their ears, and instead use them to apply or remove makeup, or place ointments on various parts of the body.

“If a person has any kind of ear-wax build up on the outside of their ear or …around that area, they can definitely use that (cotton swab) to clean their ears.”–Patrick Dinelle, Manager, Third Ave. Pharmacy

Dinelle does mention that the cotton swabs can be used to clean the outside of their ears, as long as they don’t go inside. If someone is having problems with their ears, Dinelle suggests speaking with a physician or using baby oil or mineral oil to clean out your ear.

If you have stuck a Q-tip in your and you feel immediate pain after use of have muffled hearing, that could mean you have damaged your inner ear and contacting your health care provider should follow.