The Cotton-Tipped Swab

Abstract

Correspondence to Harvey Kravitz, M.D. 9243 Avers, Evanston, Ill. 60203. ! NJURY TO THE EARS and impaction of cerumen in the external auditory canals, with hearing loss caused by cotton-tipped swabs, has not received the attention it deserves in the literature. This report describes studies carried out to determine the frequency of such problems in children and adults. MethodsThe authors, who included three pediatricians and two otolaryngologists, collected data on ear diseases and disturbances related to cotton-tipped swabs seen in their practices for one calendar year. These data included: 1) cases of traumatic injuries to the external auditory canal, the tympanic membrane, and the structures within the middle ear; 2) causes of impaction of cerumen in the external auditory canal; 3) cases of otitis ' externa. The cases of traumatic injury to the ear and its internal structures were reported by the parent or adult to have occurred immediately after the insertion of cottontipped swabs in the external auditory canal.The cases of otitis externa and impaction of cerumen were attributed to cotton-tipped swabs if a mother had been inserting them into the external auditory canal one or more times a week to clean the cerumen out of the ears of the child, or an adult had been doing it to himself.Also determined was the incidence of impaction of cerumen caused by daily to weekly use of cotton-tipped swabs in the external auditory canals. We studied the children of 100 randomly selected mothers in a suburban private pediatric practice, and of 100 other mothers from an inner-city population from the outpatient clinics of Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, Illinois.

Management of Pediatric Trauma: ENT View

“…Sagiv et al [16] reported that the traumatic tympanic membrane perforations in pediatric patients tend to heal spontaneously than in adults. Clinical suspicion of ossicular dislocation, perilymphatic fistula that presents with symptoms of dizziness, vertigo, sudden or fluctuating sensorineural hearing loss, and facial nerve paralysis alerts physician for immediate otolaryngology consultation for surgical evaluation within hours to prevent permanent hearing loss [17].…”