How to clean the ears of a child: tips for parents

From an early age, parents are trying to teach a child to order, implant him with the basic rules of hygiene. By the age of three, the baby can independently wash hands, brush his teeth and ears. And while it is still small, you will have to do it for it. How to clean the child's ears so that the process is as safe and painless as possible? We will understand everything in order.

Does the child need to clean the ears

The fact is that the human body is largely autonomous. It can do without outside intervention. The auditory system is no exception. In the ear canal of a person produces a special lubricant - sulfur. It protects the thin skin of the passage from inflammation, dirt, infections. Sulfur lubricates the eardrum and prevents it from drying out.

The human body is designed in such a way that sulfur itself is brought out.This is the part of cartilage located on the front wall of the external auditory canal. When chewing, sucking, coughing, laughing, swallowing and talking, the cartilage moves and removes excess sulfur. It can be gray, yellow and greenish, depending on humidity and contact with oxygen. When sulfur appears in the auricle, this is where the cleaning is needed. That is, you only need to clean the external parts of the auditory system, but not to go inside the auditory canal.

How to clean the child's ears

Cleaning the ears is a rather delicate process that requires attention and great care. It is not recommended to clean the ears to children in the first weeks of life. Immediately after birth, the bodies of the crumbs should adapt a bit to the outside world, they should not be immediately exposed. It is best to clean the ears of the baby after two weeks of age.

1. It is best to clean the ears after bathing - the skin at this moment is soft, supple.
2. After water procedures, put the baby on the changing table, turn it on the flank.
3. Prepare a small flagellum made of cotton - just twist a sterile piece of cotton wool in the form of turundochka.In no case should not clean the child's ears with a cotton swab, even with the limiters. A cotton swab can only be used to clean the external parts of the auditory system.
4. Gently lower the cotton flagellum into the ear and use a rotating motion to clean the ear canal.
5. The auricle can be wiped with a towel or cotton pad.
6. If you notice a piece of sulfur that cannot be reached with a flagellum, put a drop of oil or petroleum jelly in the ear canal. The fatty substance will soften the sulfur and it will be easy to bring it out.

It is not necessary to clean the ears of a newborn infrequently, once a week. Wipe the ears with a towel can be after each swim.

Sulfur plugs

If you have used cotton buds since the baby was born, the crumbs can have a sulfur plug - be ready for this. The fact is that a cotton swab cleans only part of the sulfur. The rest of the wand simply tamps, compacting it around the eardrum. This leads to the fact that the body can no longer remove this sulfur on its own. In addition, frequent cleansing leads to drying of the skin and sulfur is produced in greater quantities.All this leads to the formation of sulfuric plugs.

Often, the sulfur plug does not reveal its presence until it closes more than half of the ear canal. The child starts to hear worse, he is worried about itching, pain or a rumble in his ears. A newborn baby may rub or scratch his ear, is naughty, cries a lot. This is especially aggravated after swimming. The fact is that the sulfuric plug swells after wetting. Due to the increase in volume, this plug presses against the eardrum, which gives the baby serious inconvenience.

If you notice similar symptoms in a child, you should immediately see the ENT. Do not attempt to remove the plug by yourself. If the aggravation occurred at night, when it is difficult to get a specialist, you can temporarily get rid of the pain in the following way. Pour warm water into a hot-water bottle and place your baby with a sore ear on this hot-water bottle. This will ease the pain of the crumbs and help you wait for the doctor.

The doctor will assess the situation and decide to remove the cork. Usually the cork is washed out with a syringe and a powerful jet. If the stopper is soft, rinsing can be done immediately. If the cork is hard and hard, it should first be softened.To do this, in each ear in the morning and in the evening you need to drip hydrogen peroxide or warm vegetable oil. After three days of such softening, you need to go to the doctor. He makes a weak solution of furatsilina and washes away the cork with a fairly strong jet of water. Then you need to make sure that no pieces of sulfur are left in the ear. After that, a cotton swab is placed in the ear canal for several hours.

To avoid the appearance of sulfur plugs, do not use cotton swabs to clean the ear canals. If the child is prone to the appearance of sulfur plugs, it should be shown to the doctor every six months.

Water treatment

Sometimes careless bathing can lead to unpleasant consequences. During water procedures, keep the child’s head on the surface so that no water gets into his ears. After all, the newborn baby is still so small, it can not shake his head to get rid of excess water in the ear. When moisture enters the ear, it is necessary to put a cotton cord in the ear for a while, which will absorb excess water. After this, the harness must be removed and the ear passage closed with a cotton swab for a couple of hours so as not to chill the ears.

Of course, every mother ideally wants to meet all hygiene standards, especially when it comes to a child. However, sometimes excessive pursuit of cleanliness can be harmful and even dangerous. Sterile living environment of the baby can lead to serious allergic reactions to the baby. And thoroughly cleansing the ears - to inflammation and the formation of sulfur plugs. Take care of your baby from itself - know in all measure!

Video: how to clean the ears of the child and the adult