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People have been cleaning their ears with cotton swabs for years. What other tools are being inadvertently used wrong? (feddit.nl)

submitted 1 year ago by ediculous@feddit.nl to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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[–] stolid_agnostic@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 year ago

Doctor Mike says not to do it, but I have been for years. This started when I got a wax ball that impacted against my eardrum and made me functionally deaf on one side until I could get into an urgent doctor's appointment. The very next day, the same thing happened on the other side. I knew what was up for the second time and was able to get something from the pharmacy to handle it myself.

As best I can tell, there are two dangers:

Mechanical damage, perhaps caused by accidental means
Leaving bits of cotton behind that can then become infected

For me, I am fine taking this risk and plan to continue doing so daily.