You have probably heard the old adage – never stick anything smaller than your elbow in your ear. Now if you are like me, you probably don’t follow that rule. But, NPR reported last week that following that rule is very, very important.
Even if we think we know what we are doing, our ear is very sensitive and in just a matter of seconds, you can do real damage. Margaret Chessor, a Michigan grandmother, is a good example of how bad things can go. She was cleaning her ear with a Q-tip when an insect flew in front of her. She swatted for it, possibly out of instinct, forgetting she had a Q-tip in her ear. She punctured her eardrum, which led to severe vertigo and hearing loss.
But, Chessor was lucky. She sought medical treatment and days later, underwent surgery to stop the vertigo. Doctors were able to fix hole in her eardrum, which restored her hearing.
Dr. Michael Seidman of Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, who was Chessor’s surgeon, said that he sees about six people a year who put holes in their eardrums with cotton swabs and of those six, two to four have surgery for it. What he usually hears from the patients is “I didn’t put it in that far.” However, Seidman said “In my world, two centimeters is two miles.”
People who puncture their eardrum can suffer from facial paralysis, deafness, and vertigo. Seidman cautions people that the ears are like self-cleaning ovens. He said the ear wax in good because it lubricates the canal and can help keep bacteria out.
I don’t know you about you, but too much earwax makes my ears itchy. If that is the case, Seidman suggested mixing hot water with cool hydrogen peroxide or cleaning your ear with a damp washcloth.
As for Chessor, she said she threw out all her Q-tips.