Put down that Q-tip, it’s only hurting your ear, say medical association guidelines

Q-tips or cotton swabs are a staple of most household bathrooms, and most people use them as part of their daily grooming routine. Stick the cotton swab in their ear, move it around a bit and see if they grabbed any of that pesky ear wax.

You should stop that right now, according to new guidelines from the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation. One of the oldest medical associations in the country, the group says it represents 12,000 physicians and health professionals who treat disorders of the ears, nose and throat.

In its newest guidelines, released earlier this month and updating its 2008 guidelines, the association says earwax — often thought of as bad — is good for you.

“There is an inclination for people to want to clean their ears because they believe earwax is an indication of uncleanliness. This misinformation leads to unsafe ear health habits,” said Dr. Seth R. Schwartz, who chaired the guideline update group.

Earwax protects the ears, keeping smaller items like dirt and dust from getting into the ear. Normal activities like chewing and talking help move old earwax.

“Patients often think they are preventing earwax from building up by cleaning out their ears with cotton swabs, paper clips, ear candles or any number of unimaginable things that people put in their ears,” Schwartz wrote in the update. “The problem is that this effort to eliminate earwax is only creating further issues because the earwax is just getting pushed down and impacted further into the ear canal.”

The new guidelines suggest not putting anything smaller than your elbow in your ear and to not use ear candles.

Every box of Q-tips comes with a warning against using them in your ear canal, according to The Washington Post, but it feels too good to stop.

Looking for something to do with those cotton swabs, here’s a video outlining 10 things you can do with them.

And another outlining 25 ways to use cotton swabs for survival.

This story was originally published January 6, 2017 at 6:57 PM with the headline "Put down that Q-tip, it’s only hurting your ear, say medical association guidelines."