Recently, it was reported on the Internet that a 70-year-old man in Chongqing was charged for pulling out his ears at a roadside stall 1600 yuan. The stall owner said, "This stone has been growing for 70 years!" Later, the old man's son called the police, and the stall owner returned 1400 yuan to collect 200 yuan's manual fee.

Ear-picking is said to be one of the three happy folk skills in China (rubbing bath, pinching feet and ear-picking), and there are many roadside stalls, especially the tourist attractions in Bashu. In many cities in China, there are not only specialized ear-digging museums, but also many health centers and beauty salons have solemnly launched this service project, only changing their elegant names to "ear-digging".

Ear pickers use various tools (such as goose feather sticks, tweezers, vibrators, ponytails, etc.). ) remove the earwax from the external auditory canal, stimulate the inside and outside of the ear canal, and make people enjoy and relax after itching and tension. Teemo Feng, the anchor of network celebrity, once dug his ears live, and his expression was really "sour"! Of course, some netizens said that they didn't feel anything special: "Itching, stinging".

Ear pulling is very comfortable, and some people even become addicted. Then the question comes: is it harmful to pull out your ears often? Let's find out.

What is earwax?

Pulling out the ear is earwax. The scientific name of earwax is cerumen, which is a yellowish viscous liquid secreted by cerumen gland on the cartilage of external auditory canal. After drying, it is slightly sticky and flaky. Some earwax is sticky, commonly known as "oil ear". Cerumen has the functions of moisturizing, sterilizing, inhibiting the growth of fungi and adhering dust, insects and sundries, protecting the skin of external auditory canal and tympanic membrane, and playing an important role in keeping ears clean and healthy.

Do you want to dig your ears often?

Normal earwax does not actually affect ear health. So we don't recommend picking your ears often.

Earwax usually has a "self-purification function", and most people's earwax can be discharged by themselves (for example, eating and exercising will promote the discharge of earwax). If the ear is repeatedly pulled out, it will destroy the natural barrier of the ear canal skin and cause eczema, infection and other diseases in the ear canal.

Some people are used to cleaning the external auditory canal with cotton swabs. In fact, the size of cotton swabs used in daily life is larger than that of external auditory canal. When pulling out the ear, although it will bring out some earwax, it will also push some earwax deep into the ear canal, forming an earwax embolism after extrusion, resulting in a sudden decline in hearing. What's more, the eardrum may be directly punctured by cotton swab or ear spoon, which will bring serious consequences of hearing loss and irrecoverable.

Some treasure moms can't wait to see their babies with earwax. In fact, children's ear canal is narrower than that of adults, and their skin immune function is also poor. Frequent or improper operations can cause diseases and even injuries. Therefore, the baby's earwax should not be pulled out casually.

What are the risks of ear picking service?

Some people say it's not safe for me to pick my own ears. Can I go to the ear picking hall to pick it? In fact, there is no small risk in the ear-picking service on the market.

1. Employees have neither corresponding professional qualification certification nor professional equipment.

Even in a health center that looks tall, its employees have not received professional training, and ear digging tools are not professional equipment for otology. Picking your ears with your naked eyes and feelings may lead to accidental injury, and the consequences are unimaginable.

2, tools disinfection is not thorough, easy to cause cross infection.

Whether it is a roadside stall or a beauty salon in a health center, the ear plucking tools they use can't be disinfected as strictly as in a hospital, and it is easy to bring fungi or molds into the ear canal. If mold grows on the eardrum, it will also cause hearing loss and tinnitus. We often see such similar news reports. Clinically, patients who complain of repeated ear tightness, earache or itching are often encountered. Most of them are fungal infections of external auditory canal, and almost all of them have a history of ear collection.

3. Stimulate the skin of external auditory canal

Repeated ear plucking is easy to stimulate the skin of external auditory canal, leading to swelling of stratum corneum or long-term chronic congestion, which is more conducive to bacterial growth and leads to adverse consequences.

4, damage to the external auditory canal or tympanic membrane

Once the ear is removed improperly, it is easy to damage the external auditory canal or tympanic membrane, resulting in infection of the external auditory canal, furuncle or perforation of the tympanic membrane, causing earache, and even hearing loss in severe cases.

How to deal with cerumen embolism?

If cerumen accumulates too much in the external auditory canal, especially in summer, water accumulated due to swimming, bathing and sweating. Entering the ear canal, the volume of cerumen increases, and symptoms such as external auditory canal blockage and hearing loss appear. Individuals may have tinnitus and dizziness, which may lead to cerumen embolism.

Embolism needs to be treated by a professional otologist in a regular hospital. Otolaryngologists can use professional tools, and smaller ones can be taken out directly with tweezers and earwax hooks. Some hard cerumen will be dripped with 5% sodium bicarbonate ear drops, 5-6 times a day. Keep the original position 10 minutes after dripping, so that the liquid medicine can fully play its role in the ear canal, that is, "ear bath", which is helpful to loosen and soften the cerumen suppository, and then take it out much easier. If you have otitis externa, you should take anti-inflammatory treatment first, and you can drop 3% boric acid ear drops or 2% phenol ear drops several times a day.

Tip: Tips to protect your ears

1, avoid scraping your ears with sharp objects such as nails and iron bars; You can gently wipe the mouth of the external auditory canal with a sterile cotton swab (there are many oily secretions, so you can dip the cotton swab in medical alcohol) to avoid putting the whole cotton swab head into the ear canal, and then the ear is facing down, and the earwax can generally come out by itself.

2. Avoid pouring water into your ears or "washing your ears" when swimming, washing your hair and taking a bath.

When you blow your nose, you should blow the left and right nasal cavities one by one. Never close your nose at the same time. The middle part of the nasal cavity is connected with the middle ear cavity through a pipeline. Blowing nose may cause nasal secretions to drive into the middle ear cavity, which may lead to otitis media.

4. Don't try the so-called "professional ear-picking". After pulling out your ears in the streets and alleys, you need to see a doctor in time if you have deafness, earache and repeated itching.

In short, although ear-plucking is a bit "comfortable", you should take it easy, because frequent ear-plucking will destroy the natural barrier of ear canal skin and increase the risk of ear canal diseases. Therefore, it is appropriate to dig ears, not frequently.