In addition to general medical usage, cotton products also serve several first aid purposes, like cleaning excess fluid from minor wounds, applying disinfectant to an injury, or preventing bleeding from small punctures. Why are they called q-tips when they don't look like the letter Q". Why Guy. abc10.com. 24 October 2018 . Retrieved 2 July 2023. Etter, J.F. Assessment of the accuracy of salivary cotinine readings from NicAlert strips against a liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry assay in self-reported non-smokers who passed carbon monoxide but failed NicAlert validation. Addiction 2019, 114, 2252–2256. [ Google Scholar] [ CrossRef] [ PubMed]

Cotton — What are its Uses? | First Aid Online

Medical-type swabs are often used to take microbiological cultures. The swabs are rubbed onto or into the infected area, then wiped across the culture medium, such as an agar plate, where bacteria from the swab may grow. They are also used to take DNA samples, most commonly by scraping cells from the inner cheek in the case of humans. They can be used to apply medicines to a targeted area, to selectively remove substances from a targeted area, or to apply cleaning substances like Betadine. They are also used as an applicator for various cosmetics, ointments, and other substances. Sandle, T. (July 2011). "A study of a new type of swab for the environmental monitoring of isolators and cleanrooms". European Journal of Parenteral & Pharmaceutical Sciences. 16 (2): 42–48. Schueller, Randy (1996). "Cotton Swab". How Products are Made. Archived from the original on 31 August 2011.

Smith, Matthew; Darrat (February 2012). "Otologic complications of cotton swab use: One institution's experience". The Laryngoscope. 122 (2): 409–411. doi: 10.1002/lary.22437. PMID 22241624. S2CID 206199065. This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( February 2016) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) While cotton can seem like an all-purpose material for wound care and dressing in first aid, there are cases where its use is not recommended. Knowing how to use cotton wool products safely and appropriately will greatly improve your first aid skills. Swabs with polystyrene shafts should be used, as swabs with wooden shafts may contain PCR inhibitors and may also be a safety issue, especially for patients who are self-swabbing or when used to swab young children. Alternative transport medium Using a cotton bud in your ear canal to clear cerumen (earwax) only serves to push the wax deeper into your ear canal. Your ear has a natural cleaning system that works kind of like a conveyor belt, sweeping excess wax out regularly. If you push wax deeper inside by using a cotton bud, it prevents the wax from being swept out and can potentially lead to a dangerous build-up of compacted ear wax.

Cotton Swabs in Your Ears? | Cedars-Sinai Is it Bad to Use Cotton Swabs in Your Ears? | Cedars-Sinai

A related area is the use of swabs for microbiological environmental monitoring. Once taken, the swab can be streaked onto an agar plate, or the contents of the tip removed by agitation or dilution into the broth. The broth can either then be filtered or incubated and examined for microbial growth. [9] Topkas, E.; Keith, P.; Dimeski, G.; Cooper-White, J.; Punyadeera, C. Evaluation of saliva collection devices for the analysis of proteins. Clin. Chim. Acta 2012, 413, 1066–1070. [ Google Scholar] [ CrossRef] [ PubMed] Cotton swabs ( American English) or cotton buds ( British English) are wads of cotton wrapped around a short rod made of wood, rolled paper, or plastic. They are most commonly used for ear cleaning, although this is not recommended by physicians. Other uses for cotton swabs include first aid, cosmetics application, cleaning, infant care and crafts. Some countries have banned the plastic-stemmed versions in favor of biodegradable alternatives over concerns about marine pollution. Meyersohn, Nathaniel (25 June 2022). "How we got addicted to using Q-tips the wrong way". CNN Business . Retrieved 2 July 2023. Cotton buds also run the risk of puncturing the eardrum and causing hearing loss. If pushed deep enough into the ear, the cotton bud can cause damage to delicate structures behind the ear canal and cause nausea and vomiting, loss of taste, partial or complete deafness, and in some cases, facial paralysis.Fitzgerald, Dennis (24 January 2016). "How a household staple became the source of doctor's office swab stories". The Toronto Star . Retrieved 24 January 2016.

guidance on alternative swab types and transport COVID-19: guidance on alternative swab types and transport

Cotton buds are used to precisely clear debris or dirt from a wound or to apply ointments or creams delicately. While common, the use of cotton buds to clear ear wax from the ear canal is not recommended as it may lead to ear wax impaction or cause a perforated eardrum. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interest or personal relationship that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. ReferencesAmeen, Zeenath S. (1 May 2017). "Pediatric Cotton-Tip Applicator-Related Ear Injury Treated in United States Emergency Departments, 1990–2010". The Journal of Pediatrics. 186: 124–130. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2017.03.049. PMID 28473166 . Retrieved 10 May 2017. The priority for healing a wound should be maintaining a moist healing environment with the use of bandages or wound dressings. Loose cotton wool should be avoided when dressing a wound as it can leave behind fibres harmful to the healing process, while gauze is ineffective at creating a moist environment that facilitates cell regeneration.