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Ear buds may cause ear infections
A man prepares to put wax softener into a lady’s ear. Wax softners are used when ear wax is difficult to remove but it is advisable for the doctor to help remove it.
Ear wax does not have to be removed from the ear unless it is too much and what you use to clean it out matters because anything that goes beyond the canal can hurt or irritate the inner organs writes, Sharon M. Omurungi
Ms Maria Nankya is practically addicted to ear buds. And this worsened by the fact that they cost between Shs500 and Shs1500 so she can easily stock them. Nankya finds herself using them whenever the need arises, that is, when the ears are itchy or dirty with wax. She knows ear buds are dangerous but has failed to break free from the habit keeps on cleaning out the wax .
The volume of ear wax varies from ear to ear because some ears produce more ear wax than the others. However, there are no studies to show why it is like that. Ear wax is formed from wax glands in the external ear canal and other components such as dead skin, sweat and oil. If it is a l it can cause hearing problems and if it is little, it can easily lead to infections in the ear. Ear wax protects and lubricates the ear. Naturally, the ear is a self cleaning organ, but some people will not resist the temptation to free their ears of wax by themselves.
Dangers of using ear buds
According to Dr Micheal Aubua, an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist at Mulago Hospital, using ear buds to clean one’s ears is not advisable. When one keeps using ear buds, it causes an irritation which makes the ear an easy target for infections.
“It’s not advisable to use anything that goes beyond the canal. The cleaning should stop where the canal starts to narrow.” So, if you are to clean the ear, it is best to use your small/little finger because it won’t hurt or irritate any of the inner organs. The other way to clean one’s ears, without hurting them, is by using a soft cloth. – fold the cloth at the corner and pass it through the inner ear without going deeper to hurt the canal.
People clean ears for different reasons including when the water has gone into their ears, for example, when swimming. Dr Aubua advises that if water gets into the swimmer’s ears, instead of inserting objects to clean it, one should let the water dry on its own. “If one wants it to move out as soon as possible, they can use any ear drop to help dilute the water.” He says that the water has no effect to the ear. The longest it should be in the ear before it dries out, is two days. He also adds that incase water usually enters one’s ears when swimming, they can use ear plugs before going into the water. The ear plugs are sold at sports centres. The ear plugs are usually sold together with swimmers eyeglasses and a nose clip. At Hinkar Sports Centre located along Johnston street, a kit with all that costs Shs10,000.
What to do if you have a lot of ear wax
People also clean the ears when ear wax has piled up in the ear. Just in case the ear wax is a lot and one needs to see a medical person for it to be removed, Dr Aubua says that the cost of cleaning depends on the place one goes to but on average it costs Shs10,000. “And at Mulago hospital, it is free though there is always a long queue.”
He says that how one’s ears are cleaned depends entirely on the amount of ear wax one has. If the wax is normal, it will take less than an hour to clean them while if the wax has stayed long and is hard, it will take up to two hours. He adds “The latter is not common, we get three per cent complaints of this nature.”
While the wax softeners can be found in pharmacies, he advises that they should only be used when the wax is hard to remove. Mr Aubua says that one can use the wax softeners to soften up the wax for easy cleaning. “If your ears don’t feel normal after using wax softeners, you can visit the doctor to find out what the problem is.”
Wax softeners costs between Shs5,000 and Shs10,000 in pharmacies. If one cannot afford it, he says you can use cooking oil.
Too much wax could mean a fungal infection
The doctor says the other bad thing about ear buds is that when you use them, they keep on pushing the wax into the inner part of the ear, eventually the wax piles which may cause hearing problems .
“If wax keeps on piling like every after two weeks of cleaning and you need to visit the doctor often, then it might not be ear wax.”
Though ear wax may be the primary cause of the itching, the ear specialist says sometimes it could be a fungal infection (which sometimes looks like ear wax). Normally, if you have ear wax problems, you should visit a doctor once in five years if the ear wax is normal. If it is not, it should be done every two years.”
The ear is a self-cleaning organ, so, you should leave the wax to come out on its own. However, if there is a problem, it’s always better to go to the doctor to find out what the problem is. Dr Aubua advises, “The ear is a very delicate thing, do not use ear buds or anything that will harm it. When it is damaged, the infections will find a weakness and enter, causing problems to it.”
