The visual ear scoop is popular on the Internet, can it bring "ear picking freedom"?
Ear-picking "artifact" may make ears more injured
Our reporter Chen Xi
Under normal circumstances, the ear itself has a self-cleaning function. Through the movement of the cilia in the external auditory canal, the earwax can be discharged by itself by chewing, opening the mouth and other actions.
Whether you use an ordinary ear-picking spoon or an ear-picking "artifact", it is not recommended that you dig your ears by yourself, so as not to damage the ear canal and tympanic membrane.
Yang Dong
Deputy Chief Physician, Department of Otolaryngology, General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University
March 3 is National Ear Day, and ear health issues have aroused social concern.
"Ear-picking 'artifact' makes you dig your ears like looking in a mirror, as comfortable as scratching your toes." Recently, a visual ear-picking "artifact" that can be connected to a mobile phone is on sale online, with prices ranging from ten yuan to hundreds of yuan not wait.
In addition, other types of ear-picking "artifacts" are also sold online, such as spring ear-picking spoons, magnifying glass light-emitting ear-picking spoons, and earwax suction devices.
In this regard, Yang Dong, deputy chief physician of the Department of Otolaryngology, General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, said that under normal circumstances, the ear itself has a self-cleaning function. Through the movement of the cilia in the external auditory canal, the earwax can be discharged by itself with the help of actions such as chewing and opening the mouth.
Whether you use an ordinary ear-picking spoon or an ear-picking "artifact", it is not recommended that you dig your ears by yourself, so as not to damage the ear canal and tympanic membrane.
Using 'artifacts' increases ear injury risk
The visual ear scoops currently on the market basically adopt a design similar to an endoscope, and are equipped with a miniature camera at the front end of the ear scoop, which can be connected to a mobile phone app.
The merchant claims that the inside of the ear can be seen clearly from the mobile phone, and then the earwax can be found more accurately and cleaned out.
"This visual ear scoop is somewhat similar to an otoscope operated by a professional doctor, but compared with a professional otoscope, the image clarity and color recognition of most visual ear scoops are very low. Yang Dong said that in this case, it is difficult to clearly see the situation in the ear, and sometimes even a slight breakage and bleeding cannot be seen, so it is very easy to injure the external auditory canal and tympanic membrane.
In addition, the image presented by the ear-picking "artifact" lens is two-dimensional, while the real ear canal is three-dimensional, so that only the plane can be seen during operation, but the depth cannot be perceived.
"The ear canal is only 2.5 cm short, and it is not straight, the 'road' is tortuous. In addition, everyone's ear canal is not exactly the same, so professional doctors will be very careful when operating otoscopes. In more troublesome cases, two doctors are required to operate together. For different forms of earwax, doctors may use different tools." Yang Dong emphasized that ordinary people without professional anatomy knowledge do not understand the structure of the ear canal. , Even if you see the tympanic membrane, you may not be able to distinguish important parts such as the tympanic membrane. It is very dangerous to dig rashly.
"At the same time, many people may be more cautious when they use ordinary ear spoons to dig their ears because they can't see what's going on in their ears, and they don't dare to dig deep. But because of the visible images, everyone can feel at ease and bold Digging deep into the ear canal instead increases the risk of damaging the ear canal and tympanic membrane." Yang Dong analyzed.
In fact, it is not just visual ear scoops, such as spring ear scoops, earwax suction devices, etc., businesses will also claim that their products are safer than ordinary ear scoops, making ordinary people have an illusion that these ear scooping "artifacts" can Let us achieve "free ear cleaning" without hurting the ear canal, and then induce consumers to dig their ears recklessly.
Usually it is not necessary to pluck your ears frequently
"Earwax is called 'wax', but it is not waste in the body." Yang Dong introduced that earwax, scientifically called cerumen, is the secretion of glands in the skin of the cartilage of the external auditory canal. effect.
Most people will have a very thin layer of earwax attached to the surface of the skin of the external ear canal. After exposure to the air, it will form yellowish or brown flakes.
Others have earwax like yellow, sticky grease that sticks to the external ear canal.
However, no matter what kind of earwax, it can protect the ear canal and keep the eardrum from fungus, dust, small bugs, etc.
In addition, the earwax in the external auditory canal is in front of the eardrum, which allows the sound to be slowly transmitted in, so that the eardrum is not damaged by severe vibrations.
"From a professional doctor's point of view, there is no need to pluck your ears frequently." Yang Dong said that under normal circumstances, there is a lot of earwax, which is usually discharged naturally.
Even if there is too much earwax and the ear canal is completely blocked, as long as it does not affect hearing, and there are no symptoms such as earache, cough, and ear swelling, there is no need to deal with it.
Although it feels good to pluck your ears frequently, it can hurt your ears.
"The biggest risk of often picking ears is to accidentally bruise the eardrum, causing otitis media or deafness." Yang Dong said, this situation is very common in clinical practice, such as being touched by someone else's arm when picking an ear, or mastering it by yourself No matter the depth, this kind of accident may occur.
Using hard ear-picking tools such as metal can easily bruise the delicate skin of the external auditory canal.
If the ear digging tool has not been strictly sterilized, it is easy to bring bacteria into the ear canal, causing otitis externa or chronic otitis externa.
"When there is too much earwax, ear fullness, earache or slight hearing loss, you can go to the hospital for professional cleaning." Yang Dong explained that there are many reasons for excessive earwax secretion, which may be caused by otitis externa and otitis media. Other diseases may also be caused by external auditory canal deformities, stenosis and other reasons.
When a cerumen embolism occurs, the doctor will deal with it according to the specific situation, such as using oily ear drops such as sodium bicarbonate and boric acid, first soak the cerumen to soften, and then rinse it with water to remove it.
If there is a co-infection in the ear, the doctor will resolve the infection before removing the cerumen.