The secrets of your ears: Why picking your ears might be a bad idea

This is the 5335th article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

The morning mist had not yet dissipated, but Hao Hao had already finished her third ear cleaning of the day. She was 14 weeks pregnant, stroking her slightly bulging belly, proudly holding the golden ear pick, admiring the large amber earwax.

Before pregnancy, Hao Hao was a VIP customer of the beauty salon. She would attend the ear-cleaning ceremony every Wednesday without fail. Lying on the Japanese tatami, watching the technician tap the peacock feathers with a tuning fork, the vibration of the feathers flowing in the ear canal was her most luxurious moment of relaxation. Until morning sickness disrupted all her plans, she was forced to stay at home and found her grandmother's gilded ear pick.

"It felt like scratching an itch at first," Hao Hao later described to the doctor. The progesterone made her senses extremely sharp, and the friction between the metal and the skin of the ear canal was infinitely amplified, as if Debussy's "Clair de Lune" was playing inside her head. Gradually, the frequency of ear cleaning developed from once every three days to anytime and anywhere - when watching TV series, applying facial masks, and even waiting for takeout. The rustling sound of the golden ear spoon stirring in the ear canal became a more reassuring existence for her than the fetal heart monitor.

The crisis began to emerge during the seventh "home ear cleaning". One morning, she found dark red blood on the tip of the ear pick. But the real disaster began that night, when she curled up on the sofa, the golden ear pick exploring deep in the right ear canal. This time the "prey" was particularly stubborn, and the crunching sound of the ear pick rubbing against the earwax stimulated her nerves. Suddenly, a sharp pain rushed to the top of her head, and she instinctively pulled out the ear pick, and the tip was stained with fresh blood.

In the emergency room, Hao Hao covered her right ear with a grin. She could no longer hear clearly with her right ear, and opening her mouth to speak caused severe pain. When Dr. Lv Yanlu shone an otoscope into the ear canal, she gasped. The ear canal, which was originally 7-8 mm in diameter, shrunk into a narrow gap, and a mixture of pus and blood was forming an "amber seal" on the surface of the eardrum.

"This is a typical case of traumatic external otitis." Dr. Lu pointed to the display screen and explained, "The decreased immunity during pregnancy makes the inflammatory response doubly fierce. If it were two days later, the ear would probably be swollen."

The treatment process was like torture. Since many drugs were banned in early pregnancy, every disinfection and dressing change was like setting off a miniature bomb in the ear canal. The most tormenting thing was the change in hearing - the inflamed ear canal made all sounds foggy, and the comforting voice of my husband sounded like it came from the deep sea.

Hao Hao naturally regretted it very much. The gilded ear pick that he used every day turned out to be the culprit. "You can't blame me. My ears are itchy if I don't pick them!" The more you pick your ears, the more itchy they will become," Dr. Lu said during the interval between dressing changes. "Among patients with external otitis, eight out of ten are 'ear picking enthusiasts.' The normal ear canal is like a sophisticated self-cleaning factory: fine ear hair is an intelligent filter, oily earwax is a natural antibacterial agent, and the muscle pull when the mandible moves will cause the old earwax to fall off naturally. But when external forces repeatedly stimulate, this system will fall into chaos."

Hao Hao's case is a typical textbook: frequent ear picking destroys the acidic protective film and stimulates the cerumen glands to secrete in retaliation; the hard ear spoon scratches the skin to form a wound, allowing Staphylococcus aureus to take advantage of the opportunity to enter; the decline in immunity during pregnancy makes the inflammation spread rapidly. As a result, the originally smooth ear canal wall is covered with blood scabs, and the swollen tissue almost blocks the sound channel.

The ear canal's self-cleaning system

1. The “breathing” cerumen gland

Normal earwax contains keratin and fatty acids, and has its own antibacterial buff

2. Smart conveyor belt

Every time the temporomandibular joint moves, earwax moves outward

3. Acid Shield

The pH value of a healthy ear canal is maintained at 5.5-6.5, which can resist the attack of most bacteria.

During the follow-up visit three weeks later, the treatment room became a science class. The ear canal irrigation technique demonstrated by Dr. Lu completely overturned Hao Hao's perception of "cleanliness":

"37℃ saline is injected from the dome of the ear canal, and the water will spiral along the ear canal wall." On the screen, a miniature camera is broadcasting the "ear canal cleaning" live - saline envelops stubborn cerumen, turning gracefully in front of the eardrum, and pouring out of the ear canal with old earwax. The whole process takes less than ten minutes, but it is more shocking than any ear cleaning.

"This is real ASMR," Dr. Lu smiled as he adjusted the flushing pressure. "We can even customize the plan based on the type of earwax: oily earwax can be softened with sodium bicarbonate, and blocked earwax can be pried out with an earwax hook. It's much more technical than using a small feather."

Q&A: A rational conversation about ears

Q: What should I do if my ears are itchy and I can’t sleep?

A: Try "ear yoga": rub your hands together to warm them up, then cover your ears with them, and suddenly release them to create a change in air pressure. This physical method of relieving itching is safe and effective.

Q: My ear canal becomes wet after swimming and I always want to clean it?

A: Set the hair dryer to a low temperature and blow gently at a distance of 30 cm from the ear for 1 minute (remember to avoid the eardrum). This is ten times safer than using a cotton swab.

Q: Will earwax blockage affect children’s hearing?

A: Don’t do it yourself! Children’s ear canals are more delicate. Hospitals have special cerumen dissolving agents. Applying drops of medicine for 3 days will make the earwax automatically “surrender”.