One Major Reason Why You Must Stop Using Ear Wax Treat Boil
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A health expert has warned against using ear wax to treat a boil.
Tanimola Akande, a public health professor revealed this reason to PUNCH Healthwise.
Akande said the procedure should be stopped to avoid further complications.
He advised that people should speak with a physician to treat a boil.
Akande said:
“This unconventional form of using earwax for a boil is not medically verified. Such people should access modern health care to get appropriate treatment for their ailments.
“Repeated boils may be a sign of diabetes that may not be detected through this mode of treatment.”
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This could be a brown, orange, red, yellow, or grey waxy substance secreted in the ear canal of mammals.
What is a boil?
This is a painful bump with pus under the skin. It is caused by infected and inflamed hair follicles.
A Consultant of the Nose and Throat Surgeon at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Edo State, also said it is wrong to use ear wax to treat boils.
According to what he told PUNCH correspondent,
“First, you don’t even advise people to clean their ears not to talk of getting a large quantity of ear wax to treat boils.
“The moment you begin to poke the ears for its wax, you hurt the ears and the patient can come down with serious ear infections or ear injuries.
“We are against cleaning the earwax because it can cause injuries to the ear and cause ear infection; you can imagine harvesting much to treat or apply on boils, that is unhealthy.”
Similarly, Instagram sensation, Dr Chinonso Egemba popularly known as Aproko Doctor lent a tweet thread to cleaning the ear.
Aproko Doctor said using ear swabs and other objects to clean the ear could dame the eardrum.
He explained that ear wax is a protective fluid in the ears.
According to him, it keeps the ear free from filth and insects.
He said that ear swabs push the wax inside the ear instead of extracting it.
His words:
“Use the cotton buds you bought and clean your phone’s charging port. It’s not for your ears.
“Earwax is not dirt. It keeps your ear free from insects and dirt for instance! Also, because it is acidic, it prevents fungi from growing in your ear.
“So removing your wax does more harm than good.”
Source: PUNCH Health Wise
