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r of the closet, pushing the swab further into my ear.Almost the entire cotton swab went inside my ear before I could pull it out.<figure id="3a27"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*S8YBvDOb39r0uaEL"><figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@healing_photographer?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Aarón Blanco Tejedor</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure>I was screaming with pain, and I imagined that this would be how you feel when a bomb explodes next to your ear! I was scared, and I freaked out. I called my girlfriend, ex-girlfriend now, immediately because she is smarter and does not freak out as easily as I do.I calmed down and followed her instructions. I checked if I was bleeding, and fortunately, I was not. I checked if any kind of liquid was coming out of my ear, and it was not. The third check was to see if I could still hear properly from that ear, and it failed. I could not hear. I freaked out again because I could not hear, and it was paining so much!I calmed down after some time, and rather than rushing to an ENT specialist, I decided to wait it out for a day to see if the situation improves. The next day was better, I could hear again, but the pain was still there, albeit lesser than the previous day. I consulted a doctor to get some remedies to ease the pain.The doctor said that I was very lucky to not have inflicted any permanent damage to my ears!He even advised me against using cotton swabs to clean the ears and went on to lecture me on the ill effects of using swabs for the next thirty minutes!<h1 id="aa80">If You Are Someone Who Cannot Avoid Using Swabs, Here Is a New Way to Hold Them That Might Save Your Ears</h1>As you can see in the image, I used to hold the swab like that, giving it plenty of opportunities to go all the way to my heart, if something were to happen, and it did!<figure id="b4eb"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*VWd2aVdo3PZFrkSzD8X1uQ.jpeg"><figcaption>I used to hold the swab like this. (Picture taken b

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y Author)</figcaption></figure>As I have mentioned before, my ex-girlfriend is smarter than me, and she advised me to hold the swab in a slightly different way, as you can see in the image below. When she suggested me this, my instant reaction was that it was a small thing, but ingenious nevertheless!<figure id="24b0"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*w9lennOFYpMqvkl_sqAjFA.png"><figcaption>This is how I hold the swab now (Picture taken by Author)</figcaption></figure>Holding the swab this way serves the purpose perfectly, and does not leave room for any accidents.It just reaches the surface of the ears, where either the wax or other dirt gets normally accumulated. If your wrist hits somewhere, or any other kind of accidents happen which can lead the swab to go further inside your ears, holding the swab this way will prevent it from drilling in further.<h1 id="2fc8">One Small Step for Your Fingertips, but a Giant Leap Towards the Safety of Your Eardrums</h1><figure id="6eac"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*mxIcRaRjBo3xBB9_"><figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@ravi_roshan_inc?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Ravi Roshan</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure>It’s a small tip, albeit a very useful one. Of course, that is just my feeling, and I could be wrong. But I am sure that there a lot of people who use cotton swabs, and there are a lot of people who still hold the swab like I used to hold it before. To those people, I have to say that if you are reading this article, please try out the small tip that I have shared.Trust me, this is coming from a very hurtful experience, because the pain is excruciating and the feeling is going to be unpleasant at least for a week if you are to go through what I had gone through.Like I mentioned in the beginning, I am not here to tell you to not use cotton swabs. But I would humbly request everyone to use it as less frequently as possible. But when you use it, please try out the new way of holding it.</article></body>

I Almost Went Deaf From Using Cotton Swabs

Never put anything in your ear smaller than your elbow, so they say

I am not here to tell you to not use the cotton swabs, although I would warn you against using them. They are not good for your ears, especially when your body has its mechanism to get rid of ear wax.

I am here to tell you about a mistake I made, which almost cost me my hearing.

I am a techie living in a happening city or was living in a happening city. Due to the unprecedented times, I had to move back to my hometown, where my parents live. It is of utmost importance for me to look classy, and that goes all the way from sharp dressing, to minute details like clean ears without any disgusting stuff inside them. I used to clean my ears every day to make sure that they were perfect because it was not just always the wax, but the dust and other dirt that get accumulated inside the ears, especially since I ride my bike to work in a city riddled with pollution.

You Could Be Holding It Wrong

I realized it the hard way that I was improperly holding the cotton swabs. The incident that has prompted me to write this article happened almost two months back when I was getting ready for a date. I like to multitask, and I am pretty good at it. That day as well, I was multitasking, cleaning my ears while I was talking to my uber driver for the day. While I was hurriedly turning away from the closet, my wrist which was holding the swab, hit the door of the closet, pushing the swab further into my ear.

Almost the entire cotton swab went inside my ear before I could pull it out.

Photo by Aarón Blanco Tejedor on Unsplash

I was screaming with pain, and I imagined that this would be how you feel when a bomb explodes next to your ear! I was scared, and I freaked out. I called my girlfriend, ex-girlfriend now, immediately because she is smarter and does not freak out as easily as I do.

I calmed down and followed her instructions. I checked if I was bleeding, and fortunately, I was not. I checked if any kind of liquid was coming out of my ear, and it was not. The third check was to see if I could still hear properly from that ear, and it failed. I could not hear. I freaked out again because I could not hear, and it was paining so much!

I calmed down after some time, and rather than rushing to an ENT specialist, I decided to wait it out for a day to see if the situation improves. The next day was better, I could hear again, but the pain was still there, albeit lesser than the previous day. I consulted a doctor to get some remedies to ease the pain.

The doctor said that I was very lucky to not have inflicted any permanent damage to my ears!

He even advised me against using cotton swabs to clean the ears and went on to lecture me on the ill effects of using swabs for the next thirty minutes!

If You Are Someone Who Cannot Avoid Using Swabs, Here Is a New Way to Hold Them That Might Save Your Ears

As you can see in the image, I used to hold the swab like that, giving it plenty of opportunities to go all the way to my heart, if something were to happen, and it did!

I used to hold the swab like this. (Picture taken by Author)

As I have mentioned before, my ex-girlfriend is smarter than me, and she advised me to hold the swab in a slightly different way, as you can see in the image below. When she suggested me this, my instant reaction was that it was a small thing, but ingenious nevertheless!

This is how I hold the swab now (Picture taken by Author)

Holding the swab this way serves the purpose perfectly, and does not leave room for any accidents.

It just reaches the surface of the ears, where either the wax or other dirt gets normally accumulated. If your wrist hits somewhere, or any other kind of accidents happen which can lead the swab to go further inside your ears, holding the swab this way will prevent it from drilling in further.

One Small Step for Your Fingertips, but a Giant Leap Towards the Safety of Your Eardrums

It’s a small tip, albeit a very useful one. Of course, that is just my feeling, and I could be wrong. But I am sure that there a lot of people who use cotton swabs, and there are a lot of people who still hold the swab like I used to hold it before. To those people, I have to say that if you are reading this article, please try out the small tip that I have shared.

Trust me, this is coming from a very hurtful experience, because the pain is excruciating and the feeling is going to be unpleasant at least for a week if you are to go through what I had gone through.

Like I mentioned in the beginning, I am not here to tell you to not use cotton swabs. But I would humbly request everyone to use it as less frequently as possible. But when you use it, please try out the new way of holding it.