Can Digging in Your Ears Cause Tinnitus or Damage?

Everyone develops wax inside their ears. Acting as a natural protective agent for this part of your body, earwax can be very important, and your chances of experiencing things like ear infections would go up by a huge degree without it. Of course, though, most people don’t want to have ears which are filled with wax.

This leads many to dig out their own ears in an effort to make them cleaner, removing the wax using tools like cotton buds and tissue paper. This isn’t very good for your ears, though, and this makes it crucial that you look for other ways to handle this job. Thankfully, we’re here to help you out.

What is digging and why do people do it?

Digging is the process of using an object to remove wax from inside your ears. This is different to simply wiping away the wax inside your outer ear, as this sort of action will be harmless. Instead, digging involves going deeper into the ear canal.

People will typically only take this sort of action when they have a lot of wax build up. This can get to the point that you can hear and feel the earwax, and this makes it easy to see why people would want to get rid of it. Of course, though, your ears are extremely sensitive, and this means that putting things inside them will often be a very bad idea.

The problems digging your ears can cause

Digging your ears may feel like a natural thing to do, but it can cause major issues which only an audiologist will be able to help you with. Tinnitus is a great example of this, with this condition often being caused by ear trauma. You could cause this trauma if you’re not careful, leaving yourself hearing noises for a long time. Of course, though, this is only a small issue compared with the next one.

Digging your ears can also cause hearing loss. This can be as the result of a number of different things, including causing damage to your ear’s internal structure or pushing wax further into your ear canal. This could make the problems you’ve been having with wax much worse, even if you’re very careful not to be too rough. Your ears simply aren’t designed to have things poked around inside them.

Getting professional help

Getting professional help will always be a much better option for your ears than trying to work on them by yourself. Audiologists will be able to provide you with treatments which are far more effective, while also putting your ear at as little risk as possible. If you’ve experienced hearing loss, this could bring some of your old sense back, and this will be worth it for most people.

If you’d like to learn more about getting your ears cleaned professionally, we encourage you to give our friendly team a call. You can use the numbers below for this, and we’re sure that you’ll be happy with the results. Call the Hearing & Balance Centers of West Tennessee team today at (901) 201-6761 in Memphis and (731) 256-5973 in Jackson.