剖析耳屎 清除耳垢的好处与坏处

Ears are supposed to be self-cleaning. So what's behind the fascination some people have to help nature along?
耳朵被认为有自我清洁功能。那为什么有些人还喜欢多此一举？

Some 12 million Americans visit medical professionals annually for earwax removal. Millions more have it done at spas and ear-candling parlors, which theoretically suck out earwax with a lighted candle. North Americans also spent $63 million last year on home ear-cleaning products, from drops to irrigation kits, according to market research firm Euromonitor International.
约1,200万美国人为了清除耳垢而每年看医生。还有上百万人在水疗院和耳烛美容院清除耳垢，后者理论上是借助点燃的蜡烛把耳垢吸出来。根据市场研究机构欧睿国际(Euromonitor International)的数据，去年，北美人还花了6,300万美元购买各类家用清除耳垢产品，从滴耳液到灌耳工具包，不一而足。

On Internet health forums, people wax rhapsodic about the guilty pleasure of having their earwax removed -- though some wonder if it's wrong to enjoy it so much.
在网络健康论坛上，人们狂热地讨论着挖耳垢的罪恶快感──尽管有些人怀疑如此爱挖耳垢是否有问题。

Others are unabashed. 'I absolutely love to have my ears cleaned, ' says Holly Kile, an online business manager from Indianapolis who says she uses cotton swabs daily and has her ears candled every couple of months, as does her 12-year-old son. 'It's generally a competition to see who has the grossest things come out, ' she says.
还有些人不以为然。印第安纳波利斯(Indianapolis)的网络商务经理霍利?凯尔(Holly Kile)说：“我很喜欢把耳朵掏干净。”她说，她每天用棉签掏耳朵，每隔几个月用耳烛吸一次耳垢，她12岁的儿子也是如此。她说：“我们通常会比赛，看谁掏出的耳垢最多。”

Doctors strongly discourage using cotton swabs or ear candling to remove earwax and say that unless it's causing bothersome symptoms, earwax should be left alone.
医生们强烈反对用棉签或耳烛清除耳垢，并称除非耳垢导致不良症状，否则应该不要去管它。

Officially known as cerumen, earwax is part of the ear's own cleaning system, designed to stop incoming dust, dirt, bacteria -- even bugs -- in the ear canal and ferry them out again. The wax and trapped debris are propelled along by the movements of the jaw, at about the same speed that fingernails grow. When it reaches the ear opening, the wax usually dries, flakes and falls out, often without the human host noticing.
耳垢的正式名称是耵聍，它是耳朵自我清洁系统的一部分，目的是阻止进入耳道的灰尘、污物、细菌──甚至是虫子──并把它们赶出去。耳垢和沉积的废屑被活动的下颚推动，它的增长速度和手指甲大致相同。当耳垢到达耳道口时，通常会变干、变薄并掉出来，且通常不会被人类注意到。

The process isn't always smooth. Having too much earwax, or wax that is too dry or too sticky, can create a buildup. Much of that is genetically determined. 'When it comes to earwax, choose your parents well, ' says Richard Rosenfeld, chair of otolaryngology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.
这个过程并非总是一帆风顺。耳垢太多、太干或太黏都会导致耳垢堆积。这主要是由基因决定的。位于布鲁克林(Brooklyn)的纽约州立大学下州医学中心(SUNY Downstate Medical Center)的耳鼻喉科主任理查德?罗森菲尔德(Richard Rosenfeld)说：“在耳垢这个问题上，要选好父母。”

Wearing ear-bud headphones, hearing aids or ear plugs for long periods can also interfere with orderly extrusion.
长期戴耳塞式耳机、助听器或耳塞都可能影响耳垢的规律性排出。

When excess earwax hardens or gets pushed back down the canal, it can become impacted, which afflicts approximately 10% of children, 5% of healthy adults and up to 57% of older patients in nursing homes, according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology -- Head and Neck Surgery.
当多余的耳垢变硬或被挤回耳道下方时，可能会导致耳塞。根据美国耳鼻喉-头颈外科学会(American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery)的数据，儿童的耳塞发病率约为10%，健康成人的耳塞发病率约为5%，而养老院中的老人耳塞发病率高达57%。

Symptoms of earwax buildup include a feeling of fullness, itching, vertigo, pain, tinnitus (a persistent ringing in the ears) or coughing -- due to a nerve pathway that connects the ear with the diaphragm, explains Dr. Rosenfeld, who co-authored the American Academy of Otolaryngology's 2008 guidelines for treating earwax.
耳垢堆积的症状包括感到耳塞、耳痒、眩晕、耳疼、耳鸣（耳内持续鸣响）或咳嗽──美国耳鼻喉学会2008年耳垢治疗指南的作者之一罗森菲尔德博士解释说，这与连接耳朵和隔膜的神经通路有关。

Excess earwax is also the most common cause of partial hearing loss -- and the most treatable.
耳垢过多也是部分听力丧失的最常见原因──也是最好治疗的。

'Those are the happiest patients of my day. You clean out their ears and they say, 'Oh my God, I can hear!', ' says Sarah Stackpole, an otolaryngologist (also known as an ear, nose and throat specialist) in New York City.
纽约的耳鼻喉科医生萨拉?斯塔克波尔(Sarah Stackpole)说：“他们是我一天中见到的最高兴的病人。你为他们清除耳垢后，他们说：‘哦，天哪，我能听见了！’”

Removing it at home is an option -- if you can do it safely.
在家清除耳垢也是一种选择──如果你手法安全的话。

That doesn't mean poking cotton swabs, bobby pins or any other implement into the ear to retrieve it, doctors implore. Putting anything into the ear canal risks piercing the eardrum. In fact, attempts to dig earwax out generally pack it in further -- 'like loading a Civil War cannon, ' says Rod Moser, a physician assistant at Sutter Roseville Pediatrics, Roseville, Calif.
医生劝告说，这并不是说可以用棉签捅、用发夹或其他工具伸进耳朵里挖。将任何东西伸入耳道都有令鼓膜穿孔的危险。实际上，越想把耳垢挖出来，通常越会把它捅得更深──加利福尼亚州罗斯维尔(Roseville)Sutter Roseville Pediatrics的医师助理罗德?莫泽(Rod Moser)说：“就像为加农炮装弹一样。”

'Do not go mining for it, ' adds Mr. Moser, who writes the Family Webicine blog for WebMD.
为WebMD撰写“家庭网络医药”(Family Webicine)博客专栏的莫泽说：“不要去挖它。”

That edict also includes imaginative ear-cleaning implements such as bamboo ear spoons and miniature Samurai swords. ('When you're going to war, you don't take just any old weapon -- you take the baddest weapon you can find, ' boasts the Katana/Sword Ear Pick Cleaner, sold for $10 on Amazon.com.)
专业人士的建议还包括不要用富有想象力的工具，包括竹挖耳勺和微型武士刀。（《武士刀耳挖勺》(Katana/Sword Ear Pick Cleaner)称：“当你打仗时，不要拿旧武器──否则就是选择了你能找到的最差的武器。”这本书在亚马逊网站(Amazon.com)上有售，价格为10美元。）

Frequent cleaning can also strip the protective wax from the ear canal lining, leaving it exposed to moisture and vulnerable to the infection. 'Some people -- and you know who you are -- are literally addicted to Q-Tipping their ears after every shower, ' says Mr. Moser.
经常挖耳垢可能会刮掉耳道内的保护性耳垢，导致耳道暴露在潮气中，容易感染。莫泽说：“有些人──你知道你属于哪种人──对每次淋浴后用棉签掏耳朵上了瘾。”

Instead, doctors recommend softening impacted earwax with a few drops of mineral oil, baby oil, commercial ear drops or hydrogen peroxide. Then allow the loosened wax to work its way out naturally.
医生建议的是用几滴矿物油、婴儿油、市面上有售的那些滴耳液或双氧水软化硬耳垢，然后让变软的耳垢自行掉出。