Speaking of taking out earwax, I can't help it. After taking out earwax, I think the world can hear more clearly. Looking at the earwax, I have a super sense of achievement. But experts say that earwax doesn't have to be pulled out. It's not good for ears. The following is mainly about earwax. Let's discuss it quickly.
Earwax has its effect. In ancient times, some doctors used earwax as a soothing ointment to smear wounds. Others believed that the taste of earwax could help them diagnose the disease: one doctor once wrote that the sweet earwax meant that patients would die soon. To this day, doctors still think earwax is the most natural soap, which can help us clean up dead skin cells and debris in the ear canal.
But despite the magical use of earwax - or, academically, 'cerumen' - we still try our best to get it out of our ears. In order to take out earwax, some people dare to put the sharp things in their ears.
'I've seen things beyond your imagination: hairpins, pencils, pens,' said Dr. David Jung, an otolaryngologist at Massachusetts Eye and ear hospital when I asked what strange things people would use to pull out their ears;. These are all what I have seen and heard with my own eyes. '
If you're thinking about cleaning your ears - light or heavy - the revised American Academy of Otolaryngology guidelines will tell you: stop. Not even a cotton swab, no matter how gentle it looks.
This suggestion is not new. As early as 1901, the monthly medical brief stated: 'to remove cerumen embolism, please try not to use tools. Non professional use of needles, pliers, hooks to clean the ear canal can often cause damage. '
A set of 17th century 22K Gold personal care tools, including ear scoops, toothpicks and scalpels. Photo source: Matthew s. Gunby / AP
Few medical advice can go on for such a long time. Now, everyone knows that we shouldn't put foreign objects in our ears - Jung's patients are always a little ashamed when they admit that they have pulled out their ears with all kinds of things, which proves that they know they shouldn't.
The problem is that people always know what they're doing. The new guide cites a study titled 'what medical professionals at Jos University Teaching Hospital put in their ears'. The study found that more than 90 percent of the medical center's staff surveyed used things like cotton swabs or matchsticks to clean their ear canals.
'it's a great feeling to pull out your ears. It's just a sensory pleasure. You're like a junkie and a smoker. ''OtoSim', which is led by Dr. Vito • Ford, Professor of Department of ENT at the University of Toronto, mainly produces analog equipment for otologic examination, he told us.
The closed tympanic membrane is located at the end of the ear canal. When you chew and speak, the movement of muscles and bones will push the earwax outward, and finally it will fall naturally, so as not to affect your hearing. Putting a cotton swab or screwdriver into your ear is actually the opposite. Earwax can be pushed deep into your ear canal by these tools, sometimes even forming a hard ball. Then, you may have to turn to an otolaryngologist and ask them to pull it out with tiny suction tips or beak like tweezers.
The ear plucking tool may be small, but its impact cannot be ignored: in 2012, Medicare paid nearly $47 million to clean up earwax balls for more than one million people. Of course, it's not the only reason for earwax to get a ball, but it's a significant factor.
Stuffing your ears is not only inefficient, but also dangerous. "Although the swab is soft, the skin inside the ear canal is very fragile and easy to be scratched," said Seth Schwartz, an otolaryngologist at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle and the first author of the revised guidelines. "Scratches can cause severe pain and even develop into infection.". And you may hurt the eardrum. '
In this case, he said, sometimes we can only remove the eardrum by surgery and repair it with the patient's own tissue.
The language and wording of the new guidelines are more approachable, which the authors hope will help people start to pay attention to this neglected medical advice.
But it's hard to give up the bad habit of plucking ears. Maybe it's deeply rooted in our instinct, just like using tools. Ford had received help from the Toronto Zoo, where staff said a orangutan appeared to have problems with its ears. Finally, the doctor found that the orangutan picked up the gum people had spit out and found that it was still sticky, so he put the gum into his ears and tried to stick the dirt out.
If gorillas read this article, they will regret their actions.