Did your child become deaf because of ear picking? Beware! Don’t do these ear-damaging behaviors anymore

You always feel itchy in your ears and want to clean them; when you see earwax in your child's ears, you want to help him clean it; cleaning earwax relieves stress... Frequent ear cleaning is not a good habit. It may cause ear pain, ear canal bleeding, and other skin damage and infection. In severe cases, it may even cause problems such as eardrum perforation, which may damage hearing.

Five-year-old Dada seems to be a little "disobedient" recently. No matter how his parents call him, he doesn't respond. "At first, I thought the child was concentrating on doing his own things and deliberately blocking our voices." Dada's mother said that she didn't expect that the child really had difficulty hearing.

▲The doctor performs an ear endoscopy on the child

It turned out that one day, the mother found a lot of earwax accumulated in Dada's ear canal, so she took out an ear pick and tried to clean it. However, the earwax was pushed deeper and deeper, and Dada kept crying out in pain, so the mother gave up.

Thinking of the child's abnormal reaction, he was taken to the third ward of the Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery of Hunan Provincial People's Hospital . After a detailed examination, Chief Physician Wang Ning found that Dada had oily earwax with a special texture, which was extremely difficult to clean. The earwax was easily pushed deeper into the ear canal when touched, causing severe blockage of the ear canal and affecting hearing. After ear canal irrigation treatment, Dada's symptoms were relieved and his hearing was restored.

Director Wang Ning explained to Dada's parents that children's ear canals are extremely delicate, and there are great risks in cleaning their ears by themselves. Especially for oily earwax like Dada's, it is easy to stick and gather. If parents use ear spoons to clean it without authorization, it is easy to damage the ear canal mucosa and cause inflammation. More seriously, if the eardrum is accidentally punctured, it will not only cause hearing loss, but also cause middle ear infection, resulting in permanent hearing damage.

▲Wang Ning, director of the ENT ward 3, examines a child

March 3, 2025 is the 26th International Ear Care Day. The theme of this year's event is "Healthy Listening, Unimpeded Communication". Let us work together to pay attention to hearing health, advocate healthy listening methods, use ears scientifically, and enjoy the wonderful sounds in life. At present, under the dual influence of various noises and bad ear habits, cases of hearing loss in children have increased significantly.

In fact, many ear diseases are caused by bad habits in daily life. It is not difficult to prevent hearing loss as long as you avoid these ear-damaging behaviors. Wang Ning, director of the Third Department of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery at Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, reminds everyone:

1. Handle earwax with caution: Parents should not pick earwax for their children by themselves. Children's ear canals are narrow and delicate. Improper use of ear picks and cotton swabs can easily puncture the eardrum, causing bacteria from the external ear canal to invade the middle ear and cause otitis media. Most of the time, earwax will be discharged by itself as the child chews and talks. If too much earwax affects hearing, the child should be taken to the hospital for professional removal by a doctor.

2. Use earplugs scientifically: Children often use earplugs to listen to music and watch videos. They should follow the "60-60 principle", that is, the volume should not exceed 60% of the maximum volume of the device, and continuous use should not exceed 60 minutes. If the child complains of ear pain, itching, tinnitus and other discomforts, stop using the earplugs immediately to let the ears rest. If the symptoms persist, seek medical attention and treatment immediately.

3. Eliminate violent behavior: Parents must control their emotions and avoid slapping their children or hitting their heads and faces to prevent external forces from impacting their ears and affecting their hearing.

4. Prevent otitis media: Encourage children to wash their hands frequently to prevent colds and keep their nasal cavity clean. If your child has a runny nose, teach him to gently press one side of the nose and blow out the secretions alternately. Do not blow your nose hard to prevent the secretions from going back and causing otitis media. If your child has otitis media, you can use cotton balls to plug the ear canal opening to prevent water from entering when bathing or washing your hair. Do not flush the external ear canal, use ear drops, or feed antibiotics by yourself. See a doctor in time and follow the doctor's advice for treatment.

5. Prevent foreign objects from entering the ear: Pay attention to your child's behavior and prevent them from inserting small beads, beans and other foreign objects into the external ear canal out of curiosity. Foreign objects entering the ear canal can easily damage the ear canal and cause infection. If the inflammation spreads to the middle ear, the consequences will be serious. If you find foreign objects in the ear, do not handle it yourself, and immediately find a doctor to remove it safely.

6. Clean the water in the ear canal in time: If water enters the ear canal of a child while bathing or swimming, you should immediately wipe the external ear canal with a clean soft towel to absorb the water, or use a clean medical cotton swab to gently wipe the external ear canal (be careful not to wipe too deep), or let the child tilt his head to the side where the water enters and jump on one foot to drain the water. Prevent water from being retained for a long time to prevent bacteria from breeding and causing external otitis and affecting hearing.

7. Pay attention to abnormal ear signals: Parents should pay more attention to the child's ear condition. If the child has hearing loss, such as slow response to being called, the TV volume is turned up high, or complains of ear pain, tinnitus, stuffy ears, and yellow water flowing out of the ears, there is a strange smell, etc., these are all signs of ear problems. At this time, be sure to take the child to a regular hospital's ENT department for early diagnosis and treatment to avoid irreversible hearing damage.

Hunan Medical Chat Special Author: Wang Yuanyuan and Wang Juan, Department of Otolaryngology, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital

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(Edited by Wx)