DO YOU remember your mother saying:
“Don’t put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear!”
We probably all thought: “What an odd thing to say” without really stopping to think about it. It’s amazing how we never forget those old sayings, and how strange, but true they are.
Mardi, an ear nurse from Crystal Clear Ears, Geelong, says that ears are lined with sensitive, thin skin, and quietly go about gathering earwax.
If you put something smaller than your elbow (like a cotton bud) in there, you are likely to push the whole lot further in, or accidentally scratch the ear.
Our ears have wax for a reason. It helps protect our ears from infection.
Some people have a natural problem with wax build-up, which is not a sign of failing to clean them well, but a hereditary problem.
Ears are designed to naturally push out the wax, but for some people, this just doesn’t work.
Hearing aids, ear plugs or using ear buds for music, prevent the wax from coming out naturally.
Mardi says it is amazing how often she sees people who don’t even realise they have a blocked ear. They feel itchy in the ear, or their family complain that they can’t hear.
So remember your mother’s good advice, and don’t put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear!
Learn more at crystalclearclinic.com.au.
