Don't over-clean these 4 parts of your body, or you may harm yourself

Ms. Chen, 35 years old, had a sore throat some time ago and always felt itchy inside her ears. She used a metal ear pick to clean her ears. She felt comfortable after that, but not long after, her ears would itch again, so she continued to clean her ears.

Two days ago, when Ms. Chen was taking a shower after cleaning her ears, water accidentally entered her left ear. She used a cotton swab to absorb the water quickly, but after absorbing it, she still felt that there was water in her ear that had not been absorbed cleanly, and her ear became even more itchy. It felt like there was a layer of something covering the inside of her ear, which was very uncomfortable.

This made Ms. Chen unable to control herself and she started picking her ears again. This time, after picking her ears, she felt a persistent tingling pain in her left ear, and she felt a heavy tone when she spoke.

Only then did she realize the seriousness of the problem, so she rushed to the hospital accompanied by her lover.

During the consultation, the doctor found through an ear endoscope that Ms. Chen's external auditory canal was red and swollen, and there was pus in the middle ear .

After learning that Ms. Chen had been picking her ears frequently recently, the doctor told her that her frequent ear picking had caused redness and swelling in the external auditory canal, and the inflammation had spread to the middle ear, causing otitis media and pus discharge in the ear.

Fortunately, Ms. Chen sought medical treatment in time, and there was not much pus in the middle ear, which did not cause perforation of the eardrum. She only needed middle ear flushing and anti-inflammatory treatment.

Doctors remind: The skin of the external auditory canal is very delicate and closely connected to the perichondrium. It has less subcutaneous tissue and poor blood circulation. If you use improper force when cleaning your ears, it can easily induce damage and infection to the external auditory canal, leading to inflammation and ulceration of the external auditory canal, and even affect opening your mouth and eating.

Some people, when their ears are itchy, will use hairpins, matchsticks, ear picks, etc. to pick their ears deeply and hard. This can easily damage the eardrum or auditory bones, causing eardrum perforation, affecting hearing, and may even induce otitis media.

In life, loving cleanliness and paying attention to hygiene are good habits, but excessive cleanliness and paying too much attention to hygiene are not necessarily good things, especially these 4 parts of the body may be healthier if they are a little “dirtier”!

01

Ear canal

Many people enjoy picking earwax. They always feel that their ears are not clean. If they don't pick it for a day, they feel like something is missing, and they feel uncomfortable all over. Their ears feel itchy and uncomfortable.

But what people don’t know is that the earwax in the ears is useful “shit”, so don’t “kill it all”!

Earwax, also known as cerumen, is a normal metabolic product secreted by the cerumen glands in the skin of the external auditory canal. It is a substance secreted by normal glands in the human body. Its main components are keratin, alcohols, fatty acids, dust and dandruff.

Earwax is a secretion of the skin and a product of evolution . Just like sweat cools down and moisturizes the skin, it has its own meaning of existence. It not only has a defensive effect, but also can lubricate and moisturize the skin of the external auditory canal to prevent it from becoming too dry and from being infected by fungi, dust, etc. It can also form a hydrophobic layer to protect the skin when water enters the external auditory canal.

Frequent ear digging may cause ear canal inflammation, damage to the eardrum, and even affect hearing.

Therefore, it is not recommended to clean the external auditory canal too cleanly . A small amount of earwax has a certain protective effect in the external auditory canal and is a favorable factor in maintaining the normal function of the external auditory canal.

However, when earwax completely blocks the opening of the external auditory canal, or causes hearing impairment or pain, earwax needs to be removed.

The correct principles for cleaning your ears are: slow and gentle, and don't clean too deep.

The simplest method is to use cotton swabs and ear spoons to simply deal with smaller earwax, but be careful not to use hard objects to remove earwax, otherwise it will damage the external auditory canal and thus damage the external auditory canal's own cleaning function.

Under no circumstances should ear cleaning cause pain to the external auditory canal.

If you feel pain in the external auditory canal when cleaning your ears, or some people even experience bleeding in the external auditory canal, it must be because you are cleaning too hard or too deep.

For patients with oily ears , since earwax is relatively moist and difficult to be discharged from the external auditory canal, it is recommended that such patients go to the hospital every 3 to 6 months, and have a doctor or technician completely remove the earwax from the external auditory canal under an otoscope .

In addition, if the patient experiences itchy ears, the itching can be relieved by gently massaging the front and back walls of the external auditory canal with fingers or gently wiping the opening of the external auditory canal with a cotton swab.

02

nostril

Although picking your nose feels great, this seemingly simple action is not only unsightly, it may also cost you your health.

The booger in the nasal cavity is a sticky substance produced by the nasal mucosa, which is mainly composed of water, bacteria, dead cells, dust particles, etc.

Although nasal mucus may look unpleasant, it plays a number of roles and benefits in nasal health and function, including cleansing, moisturizing, immune protection, promoting nasal secretions, and stimulating the sense of smell .

Occasionally picking your nose lightly will not have much impact, but if you pick your nose frequently, for a long time, or with too much force, it may cause damage to the health of your nasal cavity.

Frequent nose picking can irritate the nasal mucosa and cause erosive inflammation, and repeated inflammatory stimulation can lead to vestibulitis, and many people will experience nose bleeding.

If the inflammation recurs, it may also cause eczematous changes in the nasal vestibule, which can cause itching and allergic symptoms.

In addition, frequent nose picking can also cause the loss of nasal hair in the front of the nose. The nasal vestibule without nasal hair may reduce the filtering of bacteria and the cleaning of allergic substances, leading to symptoms such as allergies, sneezing, and clear nasal discharge.

How to clean the nasal mucus?

For larger or harder nasal mucus, you can first spray the nasal cavity with nasal saline or sea water, and then rinse the nasal cavity after softening the nasal secretions. You can also use a suction device to remove the nasal mucus.

Nasal flushing should not be too frequent, once a day is sufficient. It should not be done more than twice a day when the nasal cavity is dry, there is excessive secretion, or in dusty weather.

If you really can't resist the urge to pick your nose, you should master the correct nose picking technique, control the strength, and be gentle.

Before picking your nose with your fingers, wash your hands clean, control the strength, and pick gently. Do not repeatedly scratch or scrape your nose vigorously to avoid damaging your nose.

It is not recommended to pick your nose with a loose cotton swab to avoid foreign objects falling and blocking the respiratory tract. Also, do not pick your nose with ear spoons, tweezers or other tools to avoid scratching the nasal cavity with hard objects.

03

Belly button

During the fetal period, the navel has the umbilical artery and umbilical vein inside, which connect the mother and the fetus. They can bring nutrients from the mother into the fetus through the umbilical blood vessels, thereby promoting the growth and development of the fetus. After the fetus is delivered, the navel degenerates to form a belly button.

The belly button is located in the weakest part of the abdominal cavity. In addition, due to its special shape and depression, it is more likely to harbor dirt and breed bacteria.

It has been reported that there can be as many as 1.2 million bacteria in the belly button. Although there are many bacteria, they are generally harmless to human health, so there is no need to worry too much.

However, if you clean your belly button excessively or pick it too hard, it may become irritated, which may cause damage to the skin around the belly button, bleeding, and infection.

How to clean your belly button correctly?

Method 1 : Dip a disposable cotton swab in clean water or 75% medical alcohol , and then gently wipe the inside of the belly button.

Method 2 : If the inside of the belly button is relatively dirty, you can first rinse and soak the belly button repeatedly with saline solution or hydrogen peroxide, usually 2 to 3 times a day, each time for 5 to 10 minutes ; wait until the dirt inside the belly button is completely soaked before cleaning it.

Use a cotton ball or cotton swab dipped in iodine or saline to gently wipe the navel to clean out the dirt, which can also serve as a disinfectant.

Note: Be gentle. If it is not clean in one go, you can wash it multiple times. After cleaning, keep the belly button clean and dry.

After disinfection and cleaning of sludge, you can use Bactroban ointment or chloramphenicol eye ointment and apply it to the deep part and surface of the belly button with a cotton swab to protect the surface of the belly button and prevent the possibility of secondary bacterial infection.

04

skin

The skin is the body's largest organ and its first line of defense.

The stratum corneum and sebum membrane on the skin surface constitute the skin barrier, which protects the skin from external stimuli and prevents skin moisture loss.

But some people have the habit of exfoliating when washing their faces and rubbing mud when taking a bath. It seems that they always feel that they are not clean unless they rub a layer of mud off their bodies.

Proper and appropriate scrubbing is fine, but excessive cleansing will damage the skin's stratum corneum and sebum layer, making the skin susceptible to external stimuli and causing symptoms such as redness, itching, and stinging. It will also cause the skin to lose its waterproof function, leading to skin moisture loss and symptoms such as dry skin and desquamation.

In addition, if you over-clean your skin and do not provide timely care, it may aggravate skin damage and cause more skin problems, such as seborrheic dermatitis, eczema and other skin diseases, making the skin more fragile.

It is recommended to use a mild facial cleanser when washing your face, and use pure plant-based moisturizing skin care products; do not wash too often, use too high a water temperature, or use too much soap when bathing, especially in winter. Do not bathe frequently. It is recommended to take a bath 1 to 2 times a week, and the bath water temperature should be 35 to 37 degrees Celsius.

For those areas where you sweat a lot but are not easy to clean frequently, you can focus on rubbing them when taking a bath, such as the neck, armpits, joints of hands and feet, etc., but be careful not to overdo it.

In addition, after bathing in winter, you should apply an appropriate amount of moisturizer to protect your skin, effectively lock in moisture, and relieve skin itching.

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