Personal hygiene tools can be harmful or injurious, and can even land people in the hospital in extreme cases.
Loofahs can carry bacteria, shared razors can spread infection and parabens can affect estrogen levels.
Yet, many of these products are still widely used, despite the dangers.
One such product is the cotton swab.
Invented in 1923 by Leo Gerstenzang after he saw his wife cleaning their baby’s ears with a toothpick and cotton, cotton swabs became a staple of the bathroom counter nation wide.
Cotton swabs can work to clean gunk from the ear canal, but if inserted too deep, can push that gunk farther into the ear causing earwax impaction, or scratching the delicate skin of the ear canal, inviting infection.
Fareeda Hussain M.D., an Otolaryngologist and head and neck surgeon, wrote for the Mayoclinichealthsystem.org about the dangers of cotton swab use.
Hussain warns that it is never a good idea to put any small objects into the ear canal because it can cause earwax impaction and “can traumatize the fragile ear canal skin and lead to infection and bleeding.”
For those still keen to clean those waxy canals, alternatives can include: hydrogen peroxide and oil, or sinus irrigation systems such as a Neti Pot, but Hussain advises it’s best to speak with your healthcare team about earwax removal concerns.
Maybe it’s time to leave the cotton swab in the 21st century.
