careful with your ears

I have been using cotton swabs to rid my ears of wax, and I do it everyday after a bath.  It is only now that I read an article about cleaning our ears.

Deeply poking our ears with swabs may cause hearing loss, bleeding and injury to the eardrum.  The wax in our ears  is secreted in the outer two-thirds of the ear canal.  Swabs may force it deeper into the canal and diminish hearing. People who routinely use swabs are more likely to have related hearing loss.  I have a cousin who had infection due to constant swabbing.

We can keep our ears clean, safe and free from itching by dipping a cotton swab into alcohol and clean the outer part of the ear canal no more than once a week and never when your ear is infected.