Cottonbuds might ease the itch but they can bring worse.
Pediatricians strongly advise against cottonbuds in our baby’s ear because they can be more sensitive compared to adults.
That dirty little thing called earwax is specially designed by nature to serve its purpose. The earwax or the cerumen is produced by the glands in the ear canal to prevent dust and dirt from entering the inner ear because they may injure or irritate the eardrum. It is also a waterproof lining for the ear canal. It keeps it dry to prevent germs from causing infection.
If we come to think about it, parents do not need to waste their time to clean their baby’s ears because nature is doing its chore.
But being parents, we want to make our babies free from germs and anything that is unpleasant – to the eyes and to the nose. But according to David L. Hill, pediatrician and author of Dad To Dad: Parenting Like A Pro, told Parents, attempting to clean them out with cotton buds can actually cause earwax build up. With cotton buds, the earwax can be pushed back inside the ear, creating a blockage which can cause infection.
The ear canal is also very delicate and the eardrum even more so. Poking inside the ear can damage them. Worse, rupturing the eardrum can lead to permanent hearing loss to your baby.
The body makes just as much earwax as it needs, and it’s not the same for everybody. Some babies (and grownups) produce less, some produce more. Sometimes, one ear can even have more wax than the other. Too much wax build up is actually quite rare in babies.
Typically, ears don’t need to be cleaned from earwax either. Tiny microscopic, hairlike structures called cilia slowly carry the earwax out of the ear canal and, with regular bathing, the earwax is washed away.
So if not with the aid of cotton buds, how do we clean baby’s ear? Simple. The proper way to clean your baby’s ears is to simply leave the canal alone. Keeping the outer ear clean is enough by wiping it gently using a wet washcloth. However, if you think that your baby has wax buildup in his inner ear, have his doctor take a look during a routine checkup.
“As long as the pediatrician can see through the wax and visualize the eardrum, it is still ok,” says Dyan Hes, M.D., medical director of Gramercy Pediatrics in the US. “If the earwax is blocking the entire canal, then it is a problem,” he adds. If this is the case, the doctor can either use a surgical tool called a curette to scrape out the wax or flush it away with warm liquid.