You would expect kids to put anything and everything up their noses, in their mouths, and in their ears. What you do not expect is for adults to do the same. Yet, adults try to clean their ears with everything from cotton swabs to car keys, and they use all sorts of weird devices to clear their noses. 

Worse still, adults use other objects to clear their throats of phlegm and tonsilliths (those hard, pasty things stuck in your tonsil pockets that cause foul breath). As most doctors will tell you, do not insert anything smaller than your elbow into the orifices of your head! If you do, you can cause untold damage and injury. Here are more reasons why you should not put objects in the orifices of your head and how urgent care can help after the fact.

Things in Your Ears

Yes, extra ear wax is irritating. Yes, your inner ear canals itch because of it. However, you should always have your doctor take care of this. Inserting anything into the canals could result in a popped eardrum, bleeding, bloody ear wax, an ear infection, and yes, even loss of hearing in the damaged ear.

If you did injure your eardrum or see blood coming out of one ear after sticking something in there, visit an urgent clinic right away. The doctor there can give you drops to heal the eardrum, clean out the ear, give you antibiotics if there is any sign of an ear infection, and instruct you in the proper use of cotton balls to protect this ear until it heals fully. If the wax build-up really bothers you after that, see a specialist.

Things in Your Nose

No, you should not put your fingers in your nose! Do you know why? Your nose is designed to remove germs that can cause illness and putting germ-covered fingers in your nose makes the ciliae (i.e., nose hairs) work overtime to remove the germs. That means more mucus production, more irritation, and a build-up of dried-out mucus. Additionally, sticking your fingers in your nose could result in scratches to the mucous membranes from your fingernails, which in turn can become infected. 

As for other things in your nose, you must disinfect netti pots and nasal spray spouts after every use, if you insist on using them. Not doing so results in sinus infections. If something in your nose is really bothering you, blow your nose. If that is not doing the job, see an urgent care doctor and then visit your family doctor or an ENT (ear, nose, throat) doctor for a follow-up.