By dint of using cotton swabs, an Australian woman developed an infection that led to moderate deafness. According to her doctor, she could have lost her life. Account of this misadventure.
Experts often warn against the dangers of cotton swabs but many people still continue to wash their ears with it. Maybe this story will lead them to change their hygiene habits. A 37-year-old Australian woman has developed a serious ear infection which allegedly caused her to partially lose her hearing and could have claimed her life.
A daily cotton swab user, Jasmine one day begins to develop pain in her ear. “I suffered from hearing loss and maddening noise in my left ear for years. Now my ears hurt too,” she told the local magazine. That’s Life who tells his story by posting images from his ear, swollen and bleeding. Worried, she then went to the doctor who immediately diagnosed her with an infection in her ears. He then prescribed a treatment with antibiotics. Despite everything, the situation continues to worsen: while cleaning her ears, Jasmine discovers traces of blood.
She then decides to consult an ENT specialist who, after numerous tests, asks her to sit down and says to her: “You should have come to see me four or five years ago”. “I felt my chest tighten,” says the young woman. “If you had waited longer, you would have died”, he continues before announcing to her that she is suffering from a “moderate deafness in the left ear” due to a bacterial infection which would have eaten away part of her. of the skull behind the ear. According to the expert, the latter would have been caused by cotton fibers, which, remained blocked in the ear, released bacteria which attacked the cranial bone.
Other similar stories have already been reported
“You need surgery,” he told her. Fortunately, the latter is going well and the patient is now much better, although her hearing is still very weak. She is now taking advantage of her terrible misadventure to do prevention against cotton swabs. “I am now trying to warn everyone about the dangers of misusing cotton swabs“, she tells That’s Life.
This story is reminiscent of that of a 31-year-old English victim of a skull infection caused by a cotton swab. In March, the press had reported the case of this man who had presented himself to the emergency room complaining of convulsions. The doctors had then discovered in his ear canal a piece of cotton swab forgotten for years. This had caused a serious infection which had spread to the wall of the brain.
Faced with this kind of business, specialists often warn against cotton swabs. On its site, the American Academy of Otorhinolaryngology recalls that sticking sticks in the ears to clean them can affect hearing, cause tinnitus or even perforate the eardrums. She therefore recommends that people leave their ears alone: earwax has many beneficial properties, it protects against bacteria, fungi and foreign bodies and lubricates the skin of the ear canal.
Leave earwax alone
Also, unless you develop a wax plug (buildup partially or completely blocking the ear’s ear canal), in which case you’re advised to see a doctor, forget about your earwax, says Seth Schwartz, director of the Center “Listen for life”, at the Virginia Mason Medical Center (USA) at the site Consumer Reports.
And for those who still want to wash their ears, the expert recommends not ear candles (you could burn yourself) but drops based on oil or water. Indeed, the latter soften the earwax, causing it to come out of the ear naturally. Another harmless method for your ears: fill them with liquid with a special irrigation kit.
In France, a new law has recently been enacted to ban plastic cotton swabs from January 1, 2020. If this measure was taken within the framework of the law on biodiversity, it should make it possible to avoid many injuries to the level of the ears, rejoice the doctors.
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