Perforations of the eardrum, foreign bodies in the ear, accidents are numerous. In question: the improper use of the cotton swab.
It’s a bathroom staple. But the cotton swab is not always put to good use. In the United States, it causes 12,000 children to arrive in the emergency room per year. A total of 260,000 people are said to have been victims of a cotton swab accident in the country between 1990 and 2010. This estimate is detailed in the Journal of Pediatrics.
It is indeed the improper use of the cotton swab that causes these hospital visits. In a third of the cases, the emergency responders found a foreign body in the patient’s ear canal. One in four times a perforation of the eardrum has been diagnosed.
ENTs are however clear on the subject. The cotton swab should be used sparingly and with caution. Used too harshly, it can injure the skin or the eardrum – even if it breaks. Regular irritation is also a risk factor for eczema. In addition, the tool tends to push the earwax to the bottom of the duct, which promotes the formation of plugs.
A useful substance
So how do you properly use a cotton swab? To begin with, its remedy must be episodic. Every week: this is the length of time recommended by ENTs. Below this limit, the evacuation of earwax carries more risks than benefits.
Ear specialists recommend keeping cotton swabs away from babies, whose ears are more fragile. The older ones would be well advised to follow the appropriate procedure. It consists of cleaning only the outer part – the one that is visible to other people. The tool, on the other hand, has nothing to do in the ear canal where the earwax is in its place.
This yellowish and waxy substance has, in fact, a concrete use. She is responsible for protecting, cleaning and lubricating the ear canal. Once this task is accomplished, the earwax returns to the outside of the ear. This is when it can be removed.
Plastic cotton swabs banned in 2020
It will be necessary to forget the plastic cotton swabs; from 1er January 2020, they will no longer have citizenship. Under the Biodiversity law, these sticks are prohibited. Because they are not only dangerous for our ears. They also threaten the environment. Indeed, cotton swabs are too often thrown into the toilet bowl and join the aquatic waste. Result: they pollute the water without degrading.
Manufacturers will now be asked to use biodegradable and compostable paper. A necessary passage; in 2015, 16,266 cotton swabs were found in European rivers and coasts. “Put end to end, this is equivalent to three and a half Eiffel Towers”, illustrates in The Parisian Antidia Citores, spokesperson for the Surfrider Foundation Europe association
.