Graphic video shows why you shouldn't use cotton buds to clean your ears

Graphic video shows extraction of old cotton bud

Thousands of people are admitted to hospital every year after using cotton buds (Getty)

Graphic footage has emerged showing the moment a doctor pulled an old cotton bud out of a patient’s ear after the man unknowingly left it there.

It was only after visiting his doctor to complain of a blocked ear that he discovered the remnants of the cotton bud were still inside his ear canal.

In graphic footage posted online, Dr Kunal Karade, from Nagpur, India, extracts the foreign matter from deep inside the man’s ear canal, using a sharp metal instrument.

Dr Karade said the cotton bud was “mixed with hairs” and said the patient had given him “a history of ear itching, ear blockage, cold, cough and seasonal allergies”.

Thousands of people are admitted to hospital every year with injuries from using cotton buds in their ears. But despite repeated warnings from health professionals, millions of us continue to use them.

Earlier this year, cosmetics giant Johnson & Johnson announced they would replace the plastic stems on their earbuds with paper ones to reduce the harmful environmental impact of people flushing them down the loo.