Patricia Grisafi
It seems like every few years there’s a weird fad that has to do with your ears. Remember ear candling? For awhile it seemed like everyone was dumping candle wax in their ears to remove naturally occurring wax. But what if we’ve been doing this all wrong? What if you don’t dump wax in your ears — or use a Q-Tip like we all do even though we’re really not supposed to?
TikToker Ayisha Friedman-Negrín made a video showing how to “properly” clean one’s ears—by pouring hydrogen peroxide into them.
It’s been viewed over 14 million times. She pours peroxide into her ear, lets it “sizzle” (not burn, she emphasizes) and then leans her head into a towel so everything can spill out.
Is this okay?
BuzzFeed talked to an ear, nose, and throat doctor named Dr. Tonia L. Farmer and asked if this was actually safe. Surprise! It is.
“I use peroxide in my office to assist with earwax cleaning almost every day. It’s generally safe to use in the ear canal. However, I stress that peroxide shouldn’t be used if there is a hole in the eardrum from a perforation or ear tube. Using peroxide in these cases should only be done by or under the direction of a medical provider,” Dr. Farmer said.
If you want to remove ear wax at home, Dr. Farmer suggests puttting 5-10 drops of hydrogen peroxide into the ear canal, laying like Ayisha in the video for five minutes, and getting up and tilting your head so the wax and hydrogen peroxide can easily come out of your ear.
Depending on the amount of ear wax you build up, though, you might need more treatment: “Some people make more wax than others, and some make wax that’s too dry. In these cases, managing wax buildup regularly with wax softening drops like peroxide, mineral oil, or over-the-counter Debrox is necessary to keep healthy, functioning ears,” Dr. Farmer said.
So stay away from the Q-Tips and go get some hydrogen peroxide!
Featured Image: TikTok
