Cleaning out your ears with Q-tips (or anything)
As long as your earwax isn't blocking your ear canal or causing hearing problems, you should just leave it alone, according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology (AAO).
In fact, earwax has a purpose. It's antifungal and antibacterial, and it helps move dead skin cells out of your ear. The AAO does say that about 5% of adults have excessive earwax that might require cleaning out, but most of us don't need to worry about it.
Whatever you do, don't try to clean out earwax with a Q-tip.
"The diameter of the Q-tip is greater than half the diameter of the ear canal," Dr. Mark Vaughan told us in August. "So any way you stick that in there, there's a portion of the wax that you can't get around. All you can do is push it in."
[Photo via @shop.eklektik]
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