Some of the key insights include:
- Experts rank steaming the ear with boiling water and tissue as the most dangerous hack on the platform.
- Using a bobby pin to scrape the wax out of your ear could cause hearing loss.
- The £3.75 Bluetooth ear cleaning camera accounts for 40% of all videos that use tools to remove ear wax and could lead to perforation of the eardrum.
Experts warn TikTok users to AVOID these viral ear hacks and tools as they could lead to hearing loss!
- Experts rank steaming the ear with boiling water and tissue as the most dangerous hack on the platform.
- Using a bobby pin to scrape the wax out of your ear could cause hearing loss.
- The Bluetooth ear cleaning camera accounts for 40% of all videos that use tools to remove ear wax.
TikTok has become renowned for its tips and hacks spanning a range of areas, but according to experts you shouldn’t believe, or even try, everything you see on the platform.
Delving deeper into the platform, and looking at the at-home hacks around ear wax removal and treating ear pain and infections, The Hearing Care Partnership looked into videos relating to ‘ear cleaning at home’, ‘at home earwax removal’ and has revealed and ranked the most and least dangerous hacks users share on the app.
- Boiling Water & Tissue
- Bobby Pin
- Ear Cleaner Camera
- Ear Candle
- Spiral Earwax Tool
- Vix Vapour Rub
- Grapefruit Seed Extract
- Soap Suds
- Steamed Onion
- Reflexology
- Water Spray
- Garlic Oil
- Hydrogen Peroxide
- Warm Oil
(1= Most dangerous, 14= Least dangerous)
Do not do this!
Soaking tissue in a glass of boiling water and then holding the glass over your ear made up 13% of the videos that featured hacks to cure an ear infection. The experts at The Hearingcare Partnership consider this to be the most dangerous hack on the platform and with one video having over 770 thousand views alone, urge users to “do not do this!”. Audiologist, Ashish Shah said, “This will not treat an ear infection especially if it is affecting the middle ear. The hot steam could potentially lead to burns on the skin of the ear canal or even worse permanent damage to the ear drum from a burn or even a perforation. This would all be very painful as well as leading to hearing loss.”
Avoid, it could lead to hearing loss!
Next on the list of the most dangerous hacks was the use of a bobby pin, being used to scrape the wax out of the ear. Whilst this method only made up 2% of the ear-cleaning hack videos, it has received over 65 thousand views. Ashish warned, “This is extremely dangerous and copying this method risks doing permanent damage to the ear canal or even worse, the ear drum. For example, a bobby pin could cause abrasions and/or perforations of the tympanic membrane, which could lead to infections or worse, hearing loss. Nothing like this should ever be put anywhere near the ear and could even cause the wax to become impacted, blocking the ear further.”
This cheap and dangerous tool does not make you a professional!
Retailing for as little as £3.75, the viral TikTok Bluetooth ear cleaning camera tool found itself as the third most dangerous tool on the exerts ranking. Allowing users to see inside their ear canal whilst using the tool to scrape out any wax. Making up 40% of videos all videos that showed ear cleaning tools and amassing over 1.1 million views, Ashish urges users to steer clear of this ‘inexpensive and accessible tool. He said, “Just because you can see into your ear, does not mean that you know what you are looking at. Ear canals come in a variety of shapes and sizes, with twists and turns, so whilst most are between 25 – 30mm long you can quickly end up very close to the eardrum without realising. Damage to the eardrum such as perforations is very painful and can cause hearing loss and scarring. Abrasions are another possibility, which can lead to infections if bacteria find their way into the cuts.
There are also a lot of nerves and blood vessels that run around the ear canal, which can get very irritated when anything is put into the ear. So any home camera tool is a bad idea.”
Ashish concluded the findings by saying, “The sheer range of products, methods and tools being utilised by TikTok creators to remove ear wax and aid infections is quite alarming. Not only do many of them have no evidence supporting their effectiveness, but a number of them could even lead to hearing loss!”
“You should never try to clear your ears yourself. The only thing that you should put into your ears is medicated olive oil, available from any pharmacy unless you have been instructed not to put anything in your ears by a healthcare professional. Other than this, you should seek professional ear wax removal services if your ears are not doing a good enough job of removing the wax from the canal themselves.”
When it comes to ear infections and pain, these are issues that should only ever be cared for by a GP or healthcare professional. Attempting to cure them yourself at home could lead to worsening of the infection and even additional injuries to the ear.
“Whilst social media platforms such as TikTok hold many useful videos offering informative advice, users should do their research and check in with healthcare professionals before ever attempting anything they see online.”
Data Methodology:
The Hearingcare Partnership pulled 50 videos relating to ‘ear cleaning at home’, ‘at home earwax removal’ and similar from TikTok. Then worked out the percentages for the following:
- Percentage of video type (hack, tool or issue)
- Percentage of hacks used
- Percentage of tools used
- Percentage of hacks relating to ear infections and earache and their methods
Experts at The Hearingcare Partnership then ranked each method and tool from most to least dangerous, providing their expert opinions and thoughts on them.
About The Hearing Care Partnership
The Hearing Care Partnership is a family-owned and family-run independent hearing care provider that offers a personalised, expert hearing service with a mission to transform individuals’ lifestyles with better hearing.
The Hearing Care Partnership’s hearing care service provides a free hearing assessment, tinnitus consultations, and free aftercare for those investing in hearing devices. Additional services include earwax removal, high-quality hearing protection solutions, and expert hearing health advice, all designed to provide you with complete reassurance and peace of mind.
Visit https://www.thcp.co.uk/ for more information about their expert care hearing services.
