While most people have switched to good personal hygiene to prevent COVID-19, and following hand washing, social distancing, and wearing a face mask, still there are many things that are left unnoticed. For example, no one pays attention to clean earbuds or AirPods, despite knowing that they may cause ear infections in a person.
This neglect to clean is not always intentional. There are people who choose to ignore it but many others are unaware of the health risks these simple things can cause. Using dirty AirPods and earbuds can cause common ear infections including excessive ear wax production, pain, fungal infection, tinnitus, and yeast infections. However, these infections are avoidable once a person knows how to clean these gadgets properly.
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Typically, there are two parts to cleaning these tools and both of them are equally important. First, you have to clean it and disinfect the Airpods or earbud including the silicon piece and other attachments. This thorough cleaning will lower the risk of ear infections especially caused by bacteria present on your earbuds and AirPods.
Ear wax production is a natural part of the human hearing system but not many people know that this wax can sometimes be stuck in anything that you use in your ears such as earbuds. This creates a perfect environment for a number of pathogens to reside and grow. It can initiate ear infections and also affect the quality of sound coming from the earbud or Airpods.
Surprisingly, cleaning your earbuds and Airpods is not enough and disinfecting them is also mandatory. Most health experts suggest to clean them after every time you use them. However, it may be impractical and impossible so cleaning them at least once every week is necessary.
Pay attention to your tools after using them and if you spot earwax buildup, it is a sign that your earns need a clean-up too. Make sure you don’t stick anything pricky inside your ear and are using only medically approved ear cleaning buds to clean them.
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Once you finish cleaning and disinfecting, properly reattach all the parts of your earbuds and Airpods, if any. In case they are loose, there are chances of them losing up inside your ear, causing infections and pain.
For cleaning these tools, an alcohol wipe is the best choice according to a health expert. However, if an alcohol pad is not available, you may also use any soft fabric, napkin, or swab to clean them, following rubbing alcohol or any natural disinfectant. Make sure you don’t spill it over the tools, spoiling them. Also, do not use water on these tools as it may permanently damage them. Use gentle hands for cleaning any electronic device.
If your earbuds have silicon coverings, you can detach them and watch these silicone covers with soap and water. But make sure to properly dry them before attaching them pack. While they are not in your use, keep them in a safe box or area, away from water, moisture, liquids, and chemicals.
