Woman Develops Scary Skull Infection From Cotton Swabs, Loses Hearing

A woman's hygiene routine which involved cleaning her ears nightly with cotton swabs led to a life-threatening infection in her skull, and hearing loss.

The 37-year-old-woman, Jasmine, noticed the hearing in her left ear started to dull. She was told that she had an ear infection initially and was prescribed antibiotics when she finally visited the doctor.

The dullness in her hearing did not abate, however, and it was not long before she started spotting blood on the cotton buds she used to clean her ears.

Having later undergone a hearing assessment, she was told she was moderately deaf and directed to an ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist. A CT scan the specialist ordered revealed that Jasmine had a horrifying bacterial infection that had led to the disintegration of the 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 was put through a five-hour surgery to debride the site of infection and repair her ear canal. She had had cotton fibres stuck in her ear canal, which had served as a site for bacterial localization.

"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 is misconstrued that cotton swabs are suitable for ear cleaning when they are not. Indeed, the packaging for Q-tips even states, "Do not insert swab into ear canal," according to Business Insider.

The American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNSF) says that, in general, "you should avoid putting things in your ears," including cotton swabs. What can happen is the earwax gets pushed deeper into the ear canal during cleaning and this is counterproductive. In addition, cotton swabs and other cleaning tools may lead to irritation or even injury to the ear, in the form of a pierced eardrum or ear infection, according to AAO-HNSF.

Doctors in England reported March this year that a man developed a skull infection following a cotton swab tip getting stuck in his ear canal.

Despite the surgery’s successful treatment of the infection, Jasmine now has permanent hearing loss. "I now try to warn everyone of the dangers of misusing cotton buds," she said. "Our ears are such delicate and sensitive parts of our body and need to be treated with care."