Can Cleaning the Ears Bring You Tinnitus?
Tinnitus has become a chronic problem of so many people around the world. It occurs with a lot of disorders and presents itself as a symptom of at least one of them. So if one hears ringing, buzzing, or hissing noise in their ears, suspect that they have an underlying medical condition.
Not so long ago, a friend of mine complained of ringing in her right ear, which was accompanied by a partial loss of hearing and ear ache. The experience was discomforting that she sought medical treatment for tinnitus. Her ENT ordered ear scans. The source of all the symptoms was a ruptured eardrum.
Her right eardrum was ruptured as a result of overzealous cleaning. She used to insert anything from hair pins to cotton swabs deep into her ears. She even complains sometimes her ears get too itchy she needs to scratch them with anything like her fingernails.
These practices are not ideal to the ears, which are delicate. Experts discourage people to insert anything in their ears. Cleaning earwax, for instance, should only be done by wiping the opening of the outer ear with a soft, clean cloth.
Many people are too worried that when they don’t clean their ears, earwax would build-up. This not the usual case, however, because the ear canal has its way of removing earwax, which migrates outward to the opening.
The danger of inserting cotton-tipped swabs is that you might actually be pushing cerumen deeper into the ear canal, disrupting the self-cleaning mechanism. Impacted earwax may be even more difficult to remove and may cause other more serious problems like temporary deafness and tinnitus.
Another danger of too much cleaning the ears is you run a greater risk of injuring your eardrums. A cotton-tipped swab pushed too deep may perforate the eardrums, causing earache and hearing impairment.
While you think earwax is unpleasant, removing it is not necessary. In fact, you might be a little delighted to have some wax in your ear canal after learning that it actually makes a protective layer that traps dirt and bacteria from reaching deeper into the more delicate regions.
Too much scratching of your earwax removes the protective covering. This causes itchiness, which in turn causes you to scratch your ears more.
While an earwax impaction can cause tinnitus, the wrong way of removing earwax can cause hearing impairment, too. You must be aware of this. If you notice pain, sudden loss of hearing, and an ear ringing sensation after cleaning your ears, do not hesitate to go to your GP.
