Your ears are self-cleaning organs and orifices, or natural openings on your body. It’s essential to keep your ears and earbuds, headphones, and hearing aids clean to avoid introducing dirt and harmful bacteria into them.

According to Lachelle Lazarus, AuD, Audiologist at the University of Maryland Medical Center, regularly inserting earbuds into your ears doesn’t pose an inherent risk. Still, keeping them clean is a good idea, especially if you use them daily.

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“We do advise patients to keep earbuds [and] hearing aids clean to prevent any bacterial growth on the device that they would be re-inserting in their ear. Extensive use throughout the day does not pose a significant health risk, but we would recommend wiping the earbuds daily,” she says.

In-canal earbuds that go inside your ear canal can encourage warm, moist conditions in your ear that can encourage harmful bacteria growth and lead to irritation. Reinserting old wax can clog the ear, trapping moisture and causing an issue. 

Unlike earbuds, over-ear headphones do not contact the inside of your ear. However, shampoo, sunscreen, sweat, and natural skin oils can build up on the ear pads and irritate the skin around your ears, so it’s recommended that you clean them from time to time.

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According to J. Ryan Smolarz, MD, MBA, Otolaryngology Specialist, some headphones and earbuds are made from materials that can irritate your ears and the skin around them. He also acknowledges that your earbuds and headphones constantly touch your bags, pockets, your dirty hands, and other surfaces that expose them to germs.

As important as it is to clean your earbuds and your ears from debris, it’s important to give your ears a break.