Doctors warn do not use cotton swabs in ears

Doctors are putting out the warning again - telling kids and parents do not use a cotton swab to clean inside your ears.

A study by Nationwide Children's Hospital found that over 20 years, more than a quarter-million children had to be treated for ear injuries caused by cotton-tip applicators, about 34 injuries every day.

"The ear is designed to self-clean, and propel wax the outside of the ear. So when a cottton-tip applicator is blindly pushed into the ear canal, that wax gets pushed deeper towards the eardrum where it can't get out on its own," Dr. Kris Jatana of the Department of Pediatric Otolaryngology at Nationwide Children's Hospital said.

He says it can cause dizziness and damage to the ear drum which could cause permanent hearing loss.

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