Instructions on how to purchase cotton swabs and how to use them

Most cotton swabs sold in supermarkets are not sterilized and are suitable for ordinary cleaning tasks such as make-up. If you want to treat a wound, it is best to use a sterile cotton swab, such as a hospital or pharmacy.

In a sterile cotton swab, one is wrapped in yellow paper. The cotton swab is autoclaved. In the case of unopened, it can usually be kept for two weeks. The weather in the south is damp, the wrapping paper is prone to moisture, and the shelf life can be shortened to a week or so. The other is sterilized with ethylene oxide gas and sealed in a plastic bag or box with a shelf life of about 2 to 3 years.

Precautions

1. After the sterile cotton swab is used up, the outer packaging should be sealed. Once the outer packaging is opened, it can be kept sterile for 24 hours if properly stored. It is no longer sterile due to contamination by bacteria in the air.

2. Sterilization only kills pathogenic microorganisms and sterilizes spore seeds that kill bacteria. Cotton swabs have bacterial spores, disinfectants can't be done, and even disinfectants can be contaminated. At this time, not only can not be disinfected, but it may cause infection, so a sterile cotton swab should not be used on the wound.

3. Do not put the cotton swab into the ear canal. Removing the earwax with a cotton swab may cause the earwax to fall off the original place and pile up in piles, which makes it easier to penetrate the ear canal and block the ear, causing pain, hearing problems, tinnitus or dizziness, and, if necessary, may require treatment. . Another swab may have entered too deep, causing the tympanic membrane to rupture.