Contents:
- Medical Video: Cleaning Your Ears Safely
- How to clean the baby's ears properly and safely
- 1. Clean with water and washcloth
- 2. Use special drops for baby ears
Medical Video: Cleaning Your Ears Safely
Not only adults, children of all ages often experience accumulation of dirt in their ears. The ears are sensitive areas, so you should be careful when cleaning them. Wrong-wrong cleaning, can actually cause ear infections. Especially if you often use a cotton bud or certain tools when cleaning your baby's ears, this can actually encourage baby earwax to go deeper into the ear and cause infection. So, how do you clean your baby's ears properly and safely? Consider the following review.
How to clean the baby's ears properly and safely
Earwax is also called serumen, consisting of dead skin cells and thick sticky material produced by the ear glands. Although it is sometimes annoying, this is a normal part of your baby's physiology, even keeping the baby's ears healthy.According to Dr. Hai Cao, a pediatrician in Brooklyn, United States (US) earwax functions to block microbial water from the outer ear canal, so that children avoid ear infections.
Earwax is brownish to yellowish. In children and infants, cerumen texture is softer and lighter. As long as the doctor is still able to see the baby's eardrum even though there are cerumen in it, this is normal and normal. However, if earwax blocks the eardrum, then it becomes a problem that requires treatment.
Basically, earwax can come out by itself without having to be cleaned. However, that does not mean parents can ignore it or clean it carelessly. Wrong-wrong cleaning, even cause itching and infection.
Well, there are two simple ways to clean a baby's ears properly and safely. Let's peel the method one by one.
1. Clean with water and washcloth
Bathing is the best time to clean your baby's ears. This is when the baby's ears tend to be wet so it will be very easy to clean it. Cleaning your baby's ears with a washcloth is only done for the outer ear. This method is the most recommended method by many pediatricians. How to?
First, wet the washcloth cleanly with warm water and squeeze it until the water is reduced quite a lot. Rub baby's outer ear slowly until the dirt is lifted. Warm temperatures in the ear will help remove earwax by itself. Avoid using cotton so that the fibers do not enter the inner ear.
2. Use special drops for baby ears
If your baby's earwax continues to accumulate and doesn't change, you can use special drops of hydrogen peroxide solution. However, make sure that you get the doctor's approval to use the solution.
In addition, this method can only be done if your baby can hold his own head. Because, babies who have not been able to hold their head will make the droplets of hydrogen peroxide not flow smoothly in the ear. It should also be noted, do this method only when the baby is calm enough.
First, mix a few drops of hydrogen peroxide with water and make sure it's evenly mixed. After that, drop the solution in the baby's right and left ears. Each side of one drop.
Try to keep the baby lying for five minutes to make sure the solution enters the ear canal perfectly. These drops will help soften the dirt and help it come out of the ear. Then, clean the outer baby's ear with a wet washcloth to help clean the dirt that comes out.
If the two methods fail to clean the baby's ear, the doctor may use a special tool called a curette. Calm down, even if it sounds painful, the doctor guarantees that you will do it gently so your baby won't get hurt.
Not all baby earwax is dangerous, some of which are even normal. However, if you find a build-up of earwax that looks alarming, immediately consult your doctor for further treatment.
