Did you get water in your ear? What you did so far can be very dangerous

We have all done it sometime. You leave the shower, the pool or the beach and you have gotten water in the ear and what do we do? Shake your head To try to get it out of our ear. It's instinctive, but we shouldn't do it… or so science says.

A team of researchers from Cornell University (United States) has conducted a study in which It is not advisable to carry out this practice.as it could carry serious health risks, especially if we talk about Small children. According to his research, the acceleration forces involved in the expulsion of water from the human ear canal could expose them to brain damage.

"Our research focuses mainly on the acceleration needed to remove water from the ear canal," he tells Science Alert Anuj Baskota, engineering student from Cornell University. "The critical acceleration which we obtained experimentally in 3D printed glass tubes and ear canals was around 10 times the force of gravity for infant ear sizes, which could cause damage to the brain. "

More danger in children

Although these are experiments in which people were not used, so it cannot be taken as a clinical trial of brain damage, yes it can be a wake up call so that we avoid a gesture that can be potentially dangerous to health.

Lying on your side or moving the earlobe can work just as well and your brain won't pay for it

To measure the forces necessary to dislodge water from one ear, the team designed glass tubes of different diameters, intended to function as a simplified replica of a real human ear canal. To design the fake ear in the most realistic way possible, researchers 3D printed a model of human ear canal and coated the inside of the glass tube with silane, to approximately equal the level of hydrophobicity (ability to repel water) found in the channels of a real ear.

"The results revealed that critical acceleration to remove water from the ear canal largely depends on the volume and position of the trapped liquid inside the tube However, the critical acceleration is in the order of 10g, which can cause serious damage to the human brain "explains the team in the study

Alternatives

According to their investigations, children could be especially at risk, since they require, physically speaking, a greater amount of acceleration to dislodge the trapped water in smaller tubes.

So, considering this, it is best to opt for solutions that are just as simple and less dangerous to get water out of your ears. Lie on your side Or simply move the earlobe They can work just as well and your brain won't pay for it.