Nigeria: ‘I thought the wax was dirty’: How ‘habitual’ cotton bud use endangers eardrums of Nigerians

From hygiene ritual to danger: How cotton bud use endangers eardrums of Nigerians

When 47-year-old Bello Issa walked into the Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) department of the Usmanu Danfodio University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto, he looked like a man who had lost something more than sleep.

“I used cotton buds every night,’ he said, reclining on a chair in the ENT department. 

“Every night after I brushed my teeth, I would clean my ears. I thought the wax was dirty. Then…