用棉签清洁耳朵可能导致颅内感染

A woman's daily habit of cleaning her ears with cotton swabs led to a life-threatening infection in her skull¹, according to news reports.

 

据报道，一名习惯每天用棉签清洁耳朵的女性发生颅内感染，导致生命受到威胁。

 

The 37-year-old woman, who is identified only as Jasmine, said she cleaned her ears every night with cotton swabs, according to the Australian magazine That's Life! But over time, she noticed she had trouble hearing out of her left ear, and finally went to the doctor. She was initially² told she had an ear infection, and was given antibiotics³.

 

But her hearing problems remained, and she soon noticed blood appearing on the cotton swabs after she cleaned her ears.

 

After a hearing test showed she had moderate deafness, she was referred to an ear, nose and throat specialist. The specialist ordered a CT scan, which showed a horrifying⁴ condition: Jasmine had a bacterial⁵ infection that was "eating away" at her skull bone behind her ear.

 

"You should have come to see me four or five years ago," the specialist reportedly told Jasmine. "You need surgery yesterday."

 

Jasmine eventually underwent a 5-hour surgery to remove the infected tissue and reconstruct her ear canal. The surgeons told her that she had cotton fibers⁶ lodged⁷ in her ear, which had become infected.

 

"The cotton had been collecting and festering for as long as five years, and my skull bone behind the ear was paper-thin," Jasmine said.

 

It's a misperception that cotton swabs are safe for cleaning ears. They are not. Indeed, the packaging for Q-tips even states, "Do not insert swab into ear canal," according to Business Insider.

 

Jasmine's surgery was able to treat her infection, but she was left with permanent hearing loss. "I now try to warn everyone of the dangers of misusing⁸ cotton buds," she said. "Our ears are such delicate and sensitive parts of our body and need to be treated with care."

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