You can introduce all kinds of bacteria into the ear canal. Earwax is divided into “dry” and “wet”, and most of the earwax of East Asians, including Chinese, Japanese and Koreans, is dry. The flora in the ear canal has its own ecological balance, so if you interfere and pull out your ears, repeatedly and excessively pulling out your ears may cause pain, itching, or even skin damage and infection. If you dig your ears too deeply with a sharp digging spoon, you may damage the eardrum and cause an ear infection. In addition, digging the ears often causes mechanical damage to the skin of the external ear canal, allowing bacteria to take advantage of the situation, which may cause infections, especially mycobacterial infections. 2. Cotton wool left in the ear canal may lead to infection It is not very recommended to use cotton swabs often to remove ear wax because doing so may push the wax deeper into the ear canal and into places where the ear cannot clean itself. Earwax gets trapped deeper and allows fungus, bacteria and viruses to build up in the outer ear, leaving us at risk for pain and infection. If the ear wax is pushed deeper and causes the eardrum to rupture, that’s more than painful. In addition, the cotton tip may fall off and get stuck in the ear canal, so cotton swabs are best used to clean the outer ear. 3. The ear has a self-cleaning function. There are many reasons why earwax comes out naturally, and in terms of its power, it mainly comes from the movement of the temporomandibular joint. When a person chews, speaks or opens and closes his or her mouth (such as yawning), the movement of the temporomandibular joint drives the wall of the external ear canal, creating a specific peristaltic-like deformation of the external ear canal structure, thus expelling earwax from the body. So when the ear develops an itchy sensation and a blockage is felt, increase the biting action to help the earwax expel. Do not use your fingernails or matchsticks to dig into your ears. There are often a lot of bacteria in the nails and many impurities on the surface of matchsticks. 4. Ears without earwax may “wither” Earwax is a secretion in the ear canal that contains oil and anti-bacterial enzymes that protect the skin of the ear canal. Earwax is the body equivalent of Vaseline, it will moisturize your ears, if the ears are too dry, they will become dry, cracked and “wilted”. In fact, earwax is so moisturizing that in Victorian times, people used to use it as lip balm (can’t stand it). 5. Too much earwax can cause hearing loss. Earwax filling of the external ear canal is a common cause of conductive hearing loss. A small to moderate amount of ear wax will not reduce hearing, but when the ear wax completely blocks the ear canal, it may cause conductive hearing loss and ear discomfort. The following are some common cases: People who have a lot of earwax (especially oily earwax) and a slow metabolism of the outer ear canal have a poor ability to get rid of earwax, so earwax may accumulate in the outer ear canal and accumulate over time, forming a “earwax plug” that blocks the outer ear canal and causes hearing loss, ear congestion and itching, and even tinnitus. This causes hearing loss, ear congestion and itching, and even tinnitus. After swimming or washing hair, the water soaks into the outer ear canal and the earwax absorbs the water and puffs up, completely blocking the ear canal. Patients may suddenly feel hearing loss and ear pain, and only return to normal after drying. 6. Excessive cleaning of ear wax can affect hearing When you put things in your ears, such as cotton swabs and earphones, ear wax can form an “embolism”. Every year, 8 million Americans have to have their ears cleaned because of this problem. More seriously, this can also lead to deafness, tinnitus and other terrible problems. 7. If you have to take it out, there are safer ways Ear drops can soften or remove excess ear wax, which is usually a quick and easy way to do so. Ear drops refer to liquid pharmaceutical preparations that are dropped into the ear canal, usually with water, ethanol, glycerin, propylene glycol, polyethylene glycol, etc. as the solvent, and act as a cleanser, anti-inflammatory, and astringent to the ear canal!