A viral video of a baby getting the outside of her ear brushed with a cotton swab seems to have been so relaxing that stopping the motion makes her cry.
Kristina Mladenova, a 29-year-old mother from Bulgaria who posts to TikTok for "fun," uploaded the moment to the video-sharing app in November, and the 37-second clip is still getting views.
The video has been viewed over 8.2 million times and has been liked by more than 672,500 TikTok users.
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Mladenova confirmed to Fox News Digital that her daughter Ellie appears to be soothed whenever she gets her ears brushed.
"She gets calm every time I clean her ears but it’s not something I use every time she has to sleep," Mladenova wrote in a TikTok direct message.
Thousands of TikTok users have left comments under Mladenova’s post.
"Now you have to do this forever," one TikTok user wrote.
"Rather demanding," another user joked.
"My baby loves her ears cleaned too," one mom wrote. "She always stops moving and is completely still while I do it."
"So cute how it soothes her," another user commented. "The silly things that soothe and entertain babies [are] funny!"
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Health experts have issued numerous public service announcements that cotton swabs are only suited for cleaning the outer ear and should never be fully inserted into the ear.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, the largest professional association of pediatricians in the U.S., advises parents and caretakers of infants and children to leave earwax alone if it’s not causing adverse symptoms or ear canal blockage.
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"Putting cotton-tipped swabs into the ear canal pushes wax further into the ear," the academy wrote. "It can cause damage, dizziness and balance problems."
Healthline, an online resource that provides health information, agrees that it’s unsafe to put cotton swabs inside ears, but the health website acknowledges it’s safe to use cotton swabs on the outside of an ear to remove dirt buildup.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines the outer ear as "the part we see on the sides of our heads," which is also known as the earlobe.
There are two other parts to the outer ear – the ear canal and eardrum – according to the CDC, but the health agency doesn’t advise the use of cotton swabs or any other thin objects in these two areas.
