Man develops skull infection from lost cotton swab tip

Your doctors have warned you for years not to clean your ears with cotton swabs and if you haven’t learned yet, maybe this tale will scare you enough to take heed.

A man in England had to undergo surgery after a tip of a cotton swag broke off in his ear and caused an infection in his skull.

The man first reported have several severe ear aches on the left side of his head over the past five years.

He would be given medication, sent home and resume his life only to have the pain occur again some time later.

It wasn’t until he began having seizures  and collapsed that he was rushed to the ER and his ear and brain were looked at more closely.

The stuck cotton tip had caused a bacterial infection in the ear that spread into the bone as the base of the skull.

The infection then moved upward into the lining of his brain where it caused either toxins or pressure on the brain from the infection to trigger his seizures and collapse.

After surgery to remove the cotton, a week in the hospital and two months of antibiotics, the man made a full recovery.

But the tale from across the pond is the perfect example of how a innocent hygiene practice can have harsh consequences.