An audiologist from south Wales is going viral with videos of ear wax removal on TikTok.
Rhys Barber started posting videos of ear wax removal procedures on TikTok to educate and inform people about ear health.
Now, his videos get millions of views from people all over the world.
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An audiologist of 20 years, Rhys originally shared ear wax videos on YouTube. When TikTok began to become popular, he wanted to see if he could reach a new audience.
Rhys said: "We started on YouTube about four years ago. People are really used to seeing ear syringing but not many people had come across micro suction.
"We wanted to explain the process and procedure and demystify it. We posted a couple of videos on TikTok to see how they did and it just absolutely exploded. We get a lot more local interest from the videos.
"Some people seem to really like it. When we first started posting, we couldn't understand the attraction. We really thought it would be seen by other hearing professionals but it seems to get this really strong following who are really passionate about it.
"I think it falls into the same category as pimple popping. You see the end solution with the nice clear ear canal."
Through social media, Audiology Associates are now finding new patients who may not have otherwise been interested about ear health. The clinics across south Wales are receiving more enquiries as a result.
Rhys thinks that the videos are helping remove some of the stigma behind hearing problems.
He said: "TikTok is a good platform. Lots of people ask questions and it's a good way of us covering topics that a lot of people have questions about.
"We do get a lot of local people finding us via TikTok than by Facebook or YouTube.
Audiology Associates' TikTok account now has over 720,000 followers and have received almost 5 million likes on their videos.
Rhys takes time to reply to comments and further educate viewers on hearing issues, and says that this now takes up a lot of his time.
He said: "There are so many different social media platforms now. I have to keep time in my diary to manage it all! It's not just the video editing- it's replying to the comments as well.
"We have a massive audience in America and Italy and France. It's quite lovely that a little clinic in south Wales is able to reach all these people all over the world
"It really took off - there's a lot of people out there who like earwax!"
The most common issue that Rhys and his team see is earwax impacted by cotton bud use. This can leave your ear more prone to infection and uncomfortable. It can also cause a perforated eardrum.
We asked Rhys for his top tips to keep your ears healthy. Here they are:
- Don't put anything smaller than your elbow into your ear! You don't need to clean the actual ear canal- it does this for you. Rhys says any debris will come out in the shower and there is no need for cotton buds.
- If you're using headphones, turn the volume down lower than usual. If you're using headphones all day, remove them hourly to give your ears a break.
- If you are going anywhere very noisy, always take ear defenders with you to protect the ears.
- Any issues- visit your local audiologist! Don't ignore the problems as they won't fix themselves.
Watch more videos from Rhys and the team here.
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