Sixty percent of eardrum perforation cases occur
due to the improper use of cotton swabs; these data are from a study conducted at the
Henry Ford Health Center in Michigan,
United States.
The greatest risk of eardrum perforation
is present when we’re cleaning our external ear canal.
This happens because the eardrum
is only 2.4 cm away within the ear canal.
But what is the eardrum,
and why is it so important?
Well, the eardrum is a membrane
that separates the outer ear from the middle ear,
meaning any object introduced
into this cavity can easily tear it.
Additionally,
if we don’t use cotton swabs correctly,
we’re only pushing more wax deeper into the ear.
