--- title: Here's How Many People End Up in the ER Due to Cotton Swabs description: A new study serves as a good reminder as to why you really need to stop cleaning your ears. canonical: https://time.com/4771637/cotton-swabs-qtips-ears/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-09T13:33:39.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:19.401Z article:section: Health og:title: Cotton Swabs Send 34 Kids a Day to the ER og:description: Cleaning your ears may cause more harm than good og:url: https://time.com/4771637/cotton-swabs-qtips-ears/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa67c8089b472416/6988cc82fb4eacc93a891e61/gettyimages-110876699-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5103 og:image:height: 2870 og:image:alt: Close-up of woman cleaning her ear with cotton bud og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Cotton Swabs Send 34 Kids a Day to the ER twitter:description: Cleaning your ears may cause more harm than good twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaa67c8089b472416/6988cc82fb4eacc93a891e61/gettyimages-110876699-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Cotton Swabs Send 34 Kids a Day to the ER > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Inside the Hospital Room of the Future [Watch (HLS stream): Inside the Hospital Room of the Future](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/P97A4hyW.m3u8) (3:39)  _Published 2015-04-23. With built-in lighting control and smart TV integration, Patient Room 2020 is designed to show what the future of hospitals might look like._ by [Amanda MacMillan / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Amanda MacMillan / Health.com Contributor May 9, 2017 1:33 PM UTC  MedicImage—Getty Images/Universal Images Group by [Amanda MacMillan / Health.com](https://time.com/author/health-com/) ## Amanda MacMillan / Health.com Contributor May 9, 2017 1:33 PM UTC They may look harmless, but cotton-tip applicators send an estimated 34 kids to the ER every day, according to a new study in the _Journal of Pediatrics_. The authors say their findings debunk the myth that we need to clean our ears regularly—and serve as a reminder that doing so may cause more harm than good. The Q-tip, the original cotton-tip applicator, was invented in 1923 after the company’s founder watched his wife clean their baby’s ears with cotton wads and a toothpick. The ready-made swabs may have been a more convenient alternative at the time—but since the 1970s, doctors have cautioned against using them for the purpose of ear cleaning, noting that they can push wax deeper into the canal (causing impaction) and increase [injury risk to the eardrum](http://www.health.com/mind-body/ear-cleaning-mistakes). Today, research shows that the use of cotton-tip applicators is the most common cause of accidental penetrating ear injury in children. But despite doctors’ and manufactures’ warnings not to use the bathroom staple for ear hygiene, many people still do, says Dr. Kris Jatana, an otolaryngologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and associate professor at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. For the new study, Jatana and his colleagues looked at reports of cotton swab-related ear injuries at hospitals across the country between 1990 and 2010\. (Because the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System stopped coding hospital reports for these specific injuries after 2010, more recent info was not available.) In that 21-year period, an estimated 263,000 patients under age 18 were treated in emergency departments for complaints like ear blockage, pain, and bleeding—more than 1,000 a month, or about 34 a day. Most of these injuries—77%—occurred while children used cotton-tip applicators themselves. Parental and sibling use accounted for 16% and 6% of injuries, respectively. Overall, 73% of the injuries occurred during ear cleaning; other causes included children playing with the swabs or falling down while a swab was in their ear. **_Health.com:_** [_8 Things ER Doctors Refuse to Have in Their Homes_](http://www.health.com/mind-body/8-things-er-doctors-refuse-to-have-in-their-homes/?xid=time) The most common injuries were foreign body sensation (the feeling that something is stuck in the ear), [perforated eardrum](http://www.health.com/celebrities/ruptured-ear-drum-causes-symptoms-treatment), and soft-tissue injury. (While cotton swabs have also been associated with ear infections and earwax impaction, these conditions were excluded from the study because it wasn’t possible to know if they developed before or after a swab was used.) Two-thirds of patients were under 8 years of age, and 40% were younger than 3\. Fortunately, 99% of patients were treated and released—but the authors note that some of these injuries still could have been serious. Damage to the eardrum or inner ear can lead to dizziness, problems with balance, facial nerve paralysis, and permanent [hearing loss](http://www.health.com/mind-body/15-everyday-sounds-and-how-they-affect-your-hearing), they write. Injury rates did decline over the course of the study, but more than 12,000 children were still treated in 2010—a number that Jatana says is “unacceptably high.” So how _are_ people supposed to clean their ears? In short, they’re not—at least not on a regular basis. “The ear is actually self-cleaning,” says Jatana. “Wax serves a function, to trap dirt and debris and bring it toward the outside of the ear.” It also humidifies the ear canal, he adds, and has antimicrobial properties. “When visible wax is seen in the outer part of the ear, that can be wiped away with a small wet towel or baby wipe,” he continues. “But sticking any object into the canal itself is completely unnecessary and very dangerous.” In January, the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation released [updated guidelines](https://www.realsimple.com/health/first-aid-health-basics/how-to-get-rid-of-earwax) on this topic, including a new list of do’s and don’ts for patients. They include “Do know that ear wax is normal,” “Don’t over-clean your ears,” and “Don’t put cotton swabs, hair pins, car keys, toothpicks or other things in your ear.” **_Health.com:_** [_5 Mistakes You’re Making Cleaning Your Ears_](http://www.health.com/mind-body/ear-cleaning-mistakes/?xid=time) There are effective ways to treat bothersome earwax impaction, including irrigation devices, wax-softening drops, or in-office procedures. But the Academy recommends that people speak with their doctors before trying any treatments at home, since they aren’t safe for everyone. You should also see a doctor if you experience drainage or bleeding from the ears, hearing loss, or feelings of pain or fullness in the ears, the guidelines state. The study authors recommend that cotton-tip applicators be stored out of reach of children, that stronger warning labels be added to their boxes, and that parents be advised—as soon as babies are born—never to use them for ear cleaning. And just as importantly, they recommend more public education about the myths and facts of ear hygiene. “I think some parents instill in their children that cleaning out the ear canal is similar to brushing their teeth,” says Jatana. “That misconception needs to be dispelled in order to help prevent these injuries from occurring.” _This_ [_article_](http://www.health.com/mind-body/cotton-swabs-ear-injuries-emergency-room/?xid=time) _originally appeared on_ [_Health.com_](http://health.com/?xid=time) ## Transcript We are sitting in patient room 2020 which is a look forward to where the patient might be in the year 2020. The space here is really to help facilitate the delivery of care, make it more streamlined, make it more efficient. I think when you look at patient rooms in the past sort of said they were the future, look at patient healthcare. It's a different color paint and different color flooring. This really takes a better look at where the industry's heading and it's really technologically driven. Ideally, you don't want to be in a hospital but if you find yourself in one you want to know that it's clean, you're being well taken care of, the environment is comfortable. One of the thing you notice right away is how wide open the bathroom is. And so in this case, rolling a wheelchair in where you have complete accessibility is important. And then, even the shower itself starts to be customizable. One of the big things is patient safety. So in the design of this space that was one of the major aspects we looked at. The floor that we're actually standing on has a computer mat underneath here and it can track your footsteps. So as a patient puts their feet on the ground, or in the unfortunate act that they might fall out of the bed, it immediately detects that and sends alarms back to the clinician workspace. The other great idea is the computer. The clinician comes in and brings down the board. And so you can sit here and do your entries, converse with the patient that's right here, and when this closes, the UV lights kill any kind of germs that might be present. And so this is the, really, the big customizable piece right here. We have lighting, but then it might have the future of computer systems, Wi- Fi is built into this system for your phones and for telemedicine and for future robotics and things like that that connect out. Into the hallway and, and back to the nurse stations. [ MUSIC ] This is the bedside table. This is really the patient's link to the entire room. This has a built- in iPad that connects you to this patient ribbon. Obviously do the simple things like nurse call. Connects you to the outside world through Skype and your television. Or things like a halo effect. For noise cancellation it goes over your head. If you think of all the dings and noises in a hospital, patient satisfaction rates is another thing that should go up. You can create your own mood. Patient can put it into a night mode that'll start dropping the lights down. This halo here is completely customizable. So you can start with a very bright space for doing an exam. Or it can go into a mode that you see passing clouds, or the blue sky. And this is also the link to the connectivity for clinicians as well. And you can see results. You can see your vitals. It's really about drawing in the patient and the outside world into ones experience that can be controlled right from the bed. It's almost empowering the patient I think, if you get beyond the techknowledgey and the different look. It's really empowering the patient to be more active in their health care, delivery of care, interact with clinicians a little bit easier. If you've ever spent time in a hospital either as a patient or as a visitor, one of the first things you look at is the cleanliness of it, and the lighting of the space. And I think this room here, the patient room 2020 really kinda changes that mood almost, of a patient. The basic core of this was to start a dialogue and to make change in the industry. If we even have one element in here that is incorporated into a hospital, that's a success. 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