Dr Jeeve Kanagalingam - The ENT Clinic- Singapore ENT Specialist+ 65 6710 7522

38 Irrawaddy Road, #07-46/47
Singapore 329563

Dr Jeeve Kanagalingam - The ENT Clinic- Singapore ENT Specialist+65 6251 6332

3rd Floor Annexe Block, #03-41/42
Singapore 258500

Dr Jeeve Kanagalingam - The ENT Clinic- Singapore ENT Specialist
Dr Jeeve Kanagalingam - The ENT Clinic- Singapore ENT Specialist
Dr Jeeve Kanagalingam - The ENT Clinic- Singapore ENT Specialist

Should I use an ear bud to clean ear wax

The answer is no, and to be clear no ifs ands or buds! So many people use cotton buds to clean their ears. In fact one often wonders if the companies that make these cotton buds or q-tips had anything else in mind! My motto is ‘nothing smaller than an elbow in the ear’. Cotton buds can cause damage to the ear canal and eardrum. Most often a small abrasion of the ear canal skin leads to a nasty infection of the ear canal (acute otitis externa).

The ear canals are self cleaning in most people. The use of olive oil. coconut oil and simple baby oil can be instilled on a weekly basis to aid self cleaning.

Here are some pictures of damaged ear drums seen in patients who have used a variety of items to stick in their ears!

A small tear in the left ear drum caused by a cotton bud

A small tear in the left ear drum caused by a cotton bud

A larger perforation of the right ear drum - this was caused by the sharp end of a comb handle!

A larger perforation of the right ear drum – this was caused by the sharp end of a comb handle!

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