"I Lost My Hearing While Cleaning My Ears with Cotton Buds – The Agony and the Echoes of Crashing Metal"

A MUM was left virtually deaf for six years after injuring both eardrums with a cotton wool bud while cleaning her ears.

Skye van Rensburg, 21, accidentally perforated her left eardrum by pushing a cotton bud in too far while using it in the shower.

Skye van Rensburg said she was virtually deaf for six years after damaging her ear with a cotton wool bud Credit: Jam Press/@skyevrx The mum accidentally perforated her left ear drum while cleaning her ear in the shower Credit: Jam Press/@skyevrx

The mum from Winsford, Cheshire, said she experienced hearing loss “pretty much instantly” after this.

She said: “The pain came within two minutes and was severe.”

Skye suffered from extreme ear aches and tinnitus that “sounded like metal gates crashing”.

She slowly adapted to the hearing loss over time, but another unfortunate experience with a cotton wool bud in her right ear years later resulted in her almost losing her hearing altogether.

Skye said the perforated ear drum lead her to suffer from tinnitus Credit: Jam Press/@skyevrx She lived with hearing loss for six years after using a cotton wool bud Credit: Jam Press/@skyevrx

When Skye initially injured her left eardrum, she said that a pain travelled down the side of her face and neck and prompted her to call 111 four times.

After being told she had perforated her eardrum, she was advised to have excess removed by a specialist.

The mum, however, was too scared to go through with the procedure.

She said: “I didn’t go because I thought it would really hurt after the perforation.

“I was terrified I had completely lost hearing in my left ear.”

While she eventually got used to the hearing loss, Skye said that it began to affect her daily life – she was struggling to hear her toddler cry at night.

She said: “I also struggled hearing knocks at my door and my balance was really off.

“I would constantly hear the crashing metal gates sound from the .”

According to the , tinnitus can sound like ringing, buzzing, hissing or throbbing, among other things.

For some, the sounds may come and go but for others, they could be there all the time.

Medical advice states that cotton buds should not be used to clean your ears.

They risk pushing wax further down the canal which can result in wax impaction or ear canal trauma.

Skye said her perforated ear drum caused pain to travel down the side of her face and neck Credit: Jam Press/@skyevrx The hearing loss meant that Skye couldn’t hear her toddler cry at night Credit: Jam Press/@skyevrx

The mum said she felt “really vulnerable” from the situation, and it only got worse when she damaged her other ear while using another cotton bud.

Luckily, she didn’t perforate it, she just pushed wax up against the eardrum, which resulted in muffled hearing.

“So I had no hearing at all in my left ear and minimal hearing in my right ear,” Skye said.

The mum eventually visited an who carried out microsuction treatment to remove the built-up earwax, and she discovered her perforation had completely healed.

Skye said: “Once the procedure was finished 100% of my hearing came back.

“I was mind blown. I didn’t realise how deaf I was. Now I can hear absolutely everything like I should.”

The mum is now warning others not to use cotton buds to avoid a similar fate to her.

Skye said: “Everybody uses cotton buds in their ears and don’t realise the damage they’re doing.

Skye then damaged her other ear drum when using a cotton wool bud again Credit: Jam Press/@skyevrx

“You think you’re cleaning your ears but you’re just pushing the wax in and compacting the ear canal.”

She continued: “Just throw the cotton buds away – it’s not worth it.

“I didn’t realise how loud the world was until I had my ears cleaned and I can function properly now.”