Hawks' Jeff Teague learns the dangers of using cotton swabs on your ears

Jeff Teague lost hearing in his left ear during Saturday's loss to the Clippers. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

NBA players are susceptible to a seemingly unlimited amount of injuries during the grueling 82-game regular season. Strains, pulls, fractures, tweaks, bruises, tears -- you name it. But this might be a new one.

Atlanta Hawks guard Jeff Teague became concerned during his team's loss to the Clippers on Saturday when he became unable to hear out os his left ear. Further adding to Teague's worries was the pain he experienced in his ear during the team's flight to Salt Lake City after the game.

“I couldn’t hear anything out of my left ear, at all,” Teague told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It hit me the day before we played Golden State. In L.A. I couldn’t hear anything. On the plane, it went crazy.”

The problem? Ear wax. Apparently, a lot of it.

According to the AJC, Teague went to see a doctor after experiencing the ear troubles. The doctor then removed "a considerable amount of wax from both ears" and advised the point guard to stop using cotton swabs to clean his ears, which Teague had admitted to using daily for many years.

As you may or may not know, using cotton swabs actually pushes wax deeper into the ear, rather then cleaning it.

"He got it out and now I can hear everything," Teague said. "It's like a miracle."

The true miracle? Atlanta's 112-110 win over Utah on Friday, which gave the team just its second win its last 16 games. Teague added 14 points and six assists in the victory, which he likely enjoyed considerably more now that he's not hampered by crippling ear pain.

AJC