COLUMBUS, Ohio — Parents, you may want to keep cotton swabs out of reach of little hands. A new study says the ear-cleaning tools are a hazard to young kids, resulting in an average of almost 35 injuries per day. Doctors said parents shouldn’t be cleaning their ears with them, either.
In a 21-year study published by Nationwide Children’s Hospital, researchers found that nearly 263,000 children under the age of 18 were treated for cotton swab-related injuries from 1990-2010. Of those injuries, 73 percent were a direct result of using the cotton tip applicators to clean the ear canal, prompting doctors to sound the alarm against using the product.
“The two biggest misconceptions I hear as an otolaryngologist are that the ear canals need to be cleaned in the home setting and that cotton tip applicators should be used to clean them. Both of those are incorrect,” said Kris Jatana, senior author of the study from the Department of Pediatric Otolaryngology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
That’s about 12,500 kids a year, or 34 a day, who were injured as a result of cotton swabs.
“The ear canals are usually self-cleaning,” Jatana said. “Using cotton tip applicators to clean the ear canal not only pushes wax closer to the ear drum, but there is a significant risk of causing minor to severe injury to the ear.”
But perhaps the biggest finding from the report to keep in mind is safety. The study found that 77 percent of all injuries happened when the child was alone, without a parent or caregiver in the room. While almost all of the children who were sent to the emergency room over the swabs were treated and released, it’s likely best to keep the item away from small hands.
“While the number of overall injuries from cotton tip applicators did decrease during the 21 years we looked at in our study, it is still unacceptably high,” Jatana said. “These products may seem harmless, but this study shows how important it is that they not be used to clean ears.”
Consider placing all cotton tip applicators in a sealed container, bag, or box and out of reach of young children.
Do you clean your kids’ ears with cotton tip applicators? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
