Exposing the dangers of ear cleaning, part 1: Q-tip history, and practices to avoid

jar of Q-tipsPhoto byJen TheodoreonUnsplash

When we think of our ears, two things often spring to mind: hearing, and the best way to clean them. This article will focus on the latter, and whether we need to clean them at all.

Being a child of the 1970’s, I grew up with my mother digging Q-tips into my ear canals to get all the earwax out. What I discovered recently though is that this isn’t a good practice.

Little girl in the 1970sPhoto byTracy Carbone

First, an interesting history of Q-tIps. Per the product’s website, in 1923 Leo Gertenzang, the original founder of the company, noticed his wife “applying wads of cotton to toothpicks.” This prompted him to create a safer tool, which was originally branded as Baby Gays but rebranded to its current name in 1926. He founded the “Leo Gerstenzang Infant Novelty Co., a firm which marketed baby care accessories” in New York. The Q represents quality and tips refers to the cottony tip at the end.

In the 1950’s other uses were found for the product, including make up application. The company “with America’s top Hollywood makeup artist, Ern Westmore, to create the ‘Lesson in Loveliness with Q-tips’ booklet.”

makeup mirror and suppliesPhoto byRomina FaríasonUnsplash

Over time, Q-tips were made available with paper sticks as well as the historic wooden sticks after the purchase of “Paper Sticks Ltd. of England, a manufacturer of paper sticks for the confectionery trades.” In 1962, Chesebrough-Ponds bought the company. Since that time it’s changed ownership again and has undergone several changes in packaging and design, and generic brands in varying quality can be found in any store.

This is a long-lasting, well-selling product despite the webmd.com assertion that, “About the only thing doctors do agree on putting anything inside your ear is a bad idea…The only reason you should clean them is to soften or remove earwax from the outside of your ear canals. And if you’re going to do that, you’ll need to know how to do it carefully.”

picture of earPhoto byMark PatononUnsplash

Allergies can also cause itchy ears and has nothing to do with earwax build up. Wax will generally stay on the outer canals, and the “only reason you’d have an earwax blockage up against your eardrum, is because you tried to clean your ears with a cotton swab -- or something like it -- and pushed the wax in deeper. Swabbing or sticking pointy objects inside your ear can cause other serious problems: Infection, rupture of the eardrum, Significant hearing loss.”

sick teddy bearPhoto byKristine WookonUnsplash

If you have symptoms of ringing, fullness, or partial hearing loss, it could be cerumen impaction, where earwax has filled your ear canal in one or both ears. You can try a “few drops of baby oil, hydrogen peroxide, mineral oil, or glycerin in your ear to soften the wax. Or you an over-the-counter wax removal kit” but may need a doctor visit.

Others swear by ear candling. The FDA warns against this, finding that the insertion of hollow candles that are lit at the exposed end “can cause burns and even pierce the inside of the ear.” Part 2 in this series lists the pros and cons of ear candling.