Video reveals why you should NEVER use cotton buds to clean your ears… – The Sun

A VIRAL video has shown exactly why you should never use cotton buds to clean your ears.

Experts urge people to avoid the plastic swabs because they push wax further into the ear canal and could cause damage to the eardrum.

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Audiologist Rhys Morris-Barber removed two ear wax plugs from a patient’s ears after cotton bud useCredit: earwaxaudiologyassocuk/TIKTOK

Audiologist Rhys Morris-Barber’s TikTok video, which has amassed almost 11 million views, shows him clearing the ear canal of a poor patient who had been using cotton buds.

He removed two plug-shaped balls of gunk from the ears measuring 2cm together. 

One of them had a cotton-bud shaped dent from where the patient had continued jabbing at it to try and unblock their ears.

Viewers said the patient must be able to “hear colours” and “the seasons change” after having the treatment – which is both incredibly satisfying and disgusting to watch.

Rhys, who runs Audiology Associates, a set of clinics through South Wales, said: “We’ve got one patient in this video whose come in feeling really really blocked up on both sides.

“You can see we’ve got this quite impacted ear wax. Impacted means it’s been squished together and hardened up.

“This happens a lot when people use cotton buds, or Q-tips [as they are known] in the US.

“It’s squished all that together and makes it really really hard and kind of compresses it into the perfect shape of the ear canal.

“So this patient’s feeling really blocked up, has been getting some tinnitus, ringing noises in the head as well. But just feeling a bit fed up really.”

Rhys starts attempting to remove the wax using a suction tool – the standard for a professional ear cleaning.

But there isn’t enough power to grab onto the wax, so Rhys gently uses a tiny pair of forceps to peel the wax away from the skin.

The plug begins to wiggle away and as it is drawn out, you see it has a grey base which Rhys says is “dry skin”.

When Rhys moves to the other ear he says: “This shape you have, with this dent in the middle, is classic [of] cotton bud or Q-tip use. It actually puts a dent in the wax when it squishes together.”

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The plug with a cotton-bud-shaped dent in the middleCredit: earwaxaudiologyassocuk/TIKTOK

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Source: https://www.thesun.co.uk/health/16042295/video-why-should-never-use-cotton-buds-clean-ears/