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Question about ears and Q-tips
Asamof the Horrible
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So the box says not to insert them into the ear canal, so that means not inserting them into your earhole at ALL? Are they for cleaning the outside? have I been doing it wrong this whole time?
I've had a friend tell me that you're probaly pushing the wax in further into your ear when you do use a Q-tip
So if you really don't put them into that hole, how do I get out this icky wet feeling in my ear after showers
I've had a friend tell me that you're probaly pushing the wax in further into your ear when you do use a Q-tip
So if you really don't put them into that hole, how do I get out this icky wet feeling in my ear after showers
Asamof the Horrible on
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But honestly? I can't STAND the feeling of water in my ears after a shower. Feels so good to get that cu-tip in there (not too far mind you).
I put them in my ears. Further than I should actually. Been doing this for years, at least once a day, and have not had a problem with compacted earwax or anything else. YMMV
oh and I don't stick em in TOO far, just enough to get out the crap and to pull out a big yellow/orange swab
I saw a doctor pour a good amount in a ladies ear to kill a beetle that was stuck inside during a trip to South America.
Reason: Liability.
That's all. That's it. There have been cases of injury due to q-tip use. These all involve either: 1. A person carelessly jabbing the stick into their brain, or 2. Something hitting the person as they're using it, a door opening, slipping, something that pushes it in and damages the ear drum/canal.
So they make this nifty device perfect for cleaning out your ears, but tell you not to use it that way, so they're not responsible or at least have some sort of defense in case of a lawsuit.
Also nocturne, that reminds me of a story. One of my friends was cleaning out his ear with a Q-tip, and his twin brother walked into him on accident, jamming the Q tip into his ear. Next thing that happened was a river of blood coming out of his ear. Didn't lose his hearing, but still...ouch
As someone said they push wax further and further into your ear until you have either A) Hearing Problems.
One of my ex's liked to use q tips, over a period of 8 months she had three ear infections.
Don't use them.
EDIT: A link! http://blogs.webmd.com/all-ears/2006/11/q-tips-weapons-of-ear-destruction.html
Satans..... hints.....
Your ears will remove wax on their own, mashing in there with q-tips just fucks things up most of the time. If you need to clean your ears, flush them.
The only damage hydrogen peroxide can do is causing discomfort (it can be painful) and dizziness, and that's mostly from the temperature difference. Mix it with warm water, and it'll even get rid of that.
Of course, there could be adverse health affects with this, too, but I highly doubt it.
Edit: you know, it might have been hydrogen peroxide and not alcohol. Or possibly a mixture of the two. It's a little scary that I dripped that stuff in my ear without knowing, but I was running on some powerful monkey-see-monkey-do instinct after watching my dad do it.
I've never does the H peroxide thing before but I guess a lot of people swear by it so try that?
When I was younger, I would clean my ears with a Q-tip without really thinking about it. At some point, I think it was 8 or 9 years ago by now, I suddenly heard this wet "plop" noise in my ear, and my ear sounded "plugged." Like I had put earplugs in. Not knowing what was going on, I nonchalantly mention it to my parents, who said "sounds like you've got a pretty big wax buildup." We go to the store, buy some ear-cleaning solution, and I start at my ear -- I squirted it in there about 3 times a day, laid on the couch, and then cleaned it out with the rubber ball. After about 4 days of this, I hear another wet plop, only this one sounds more like something slimy sloughing around. I can also hear normally again. In a rush of excitement, I lean my head to the side and rush inside for a Q-tip. Being very careful, I insert the Q-tip into my ear and find myself pressing into this waxy gross mass. I make sure to go up and over the mass and pull it out. The first q-tip is completely ruined. The 2nd one looks better, and the 3rd is pretty much clean. Breathing a sigh of relief, I vowed to never "dig" at my ears.
I still do sometimes, though. But I discovered something after this episode -- if I do it every other day, or just twice a week, my ears feel better. Less itchy, less slimy. More importantly, I changed how I clean my ears. They say "just use them on the outside," which doesn't make sense if you're thinking about ears -- the wax is INSIDE, after all.
Here, I'll make a diagram, this is the part you're supposed to clean with Q-tips.
The thing is, the tiny hairs in your ears will naturally move earwax from "NO" to "YES." If you skip a day, you'll notice that rubbing a Q-Tip around the "Yes" area will be slightly yellow, from earwax. This is also the part that is visible to other people, which is why it's good to clean.
If your ear is feeling particularly slimy, you can carefully clean the "no" area but don't go too deep. Even better, make sure you insert the Q-Tip in the center of your ear, then press against the ear canal and scrape outwards. It's best to do this with your ear facing the ground, so tilt your head.
That part that's "here too" is often a little fold in many people's ears, and debris and other skin goop will accumulate there. Just use the "other side" of the Q-Tip to wipe there before or after cleaning your outer ear.
As for water, it's just water, and the best thing to do is wait a few minutes once you get out of the shower, so you can really feel some big drips in there and you think you can't stand it any longer, and then take a thin towel like a hand towel or dish towel and cover your pinky and dry out your ear. You'll get all of the water without having to use a Q-Tip. And since it's just water, it doesn't get the towel dirty. I wouldn't use it for washing your face or cleaning dishes, but you can use your regular bathtowel if it's not too thick without having to worry about getting earwax all over it.
They have these special candles that are hollow on the inside. They're shaped just like a candle, but tapered at one end. You stick the tapered side into your ear, and lay down on your side.
You light the other end with a lighter (usually best to have someone else do this for safety) and just lie on your side until the candle burns down (not all the way, there is a line that denotes when to stop I believe).
I'm not sure exactly how it works, but I believe the heat changes the air pressure, creating a vacuum which pulls the wax out. It collects on the bottom of the tapered end when you pull the candle.
It's illuminating to see how much wax you have in there.
It feels fan-fucking-tastic too. Very relaxing. I suggest you look into it.
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_098.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear_candling
These are not great, these are new age crap that do nothing.
http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/candling.html
Fuck all that shit. I have personal experience.
so has every member in my family
no problems
no ear infections
swab away
Why does it feel so damn good?
I think I'll try the hydrogen peroxide, but how do you get it into your ear? and how much? and how do I get it out when I'm done?
Here's a test for your "personal experience." Burn one in a glass, by itself. You'll see that it's the candle that actually drops all that stuff into your ear, not your ear wax. Your personal experience is that you burned one, was relaxed, and then saw a bunch of crap. You thought it did something, when really you just stuck something warm in your ear. Your personal experience amounts to "warm things in my ear feels good." Ear candles are very obviously snake oil.
Just because people respond to placebos doesn't make them any less of a placebo. But "take a placebo" isn't advice, especially if it's something that's well documented as causing harm with no benefit at all. I'm sure "i torched the inside of my ear" or "hot wax dripped on my eardrum and now I'm deaf" is just what H/A wants to see in a thread in a few weeks.
Why does it feel good to have someone else scratch your head, or to scratch your own back? The skin and nerve endings in an ear are seldom stimulated. Gentle stimulation will result in a much greater experience compared to rubbing, say, an arm or a hand. But try doing it a few times a day -- you'll soon discover that with sensitive skin comes the problem of chafing and irritation, for the same reason.
It's not pure hydrogen peroxide, but a mixture, usually with water and some vinegar (for the home solutions, at least). If you haven't bought anything, you should be able to find a kit at a store. The hydrogen peroxide solution will come in a drip bottle, similar to eyedrops, and you just drip 3-4 drips in your ear. The kit should also come with a rubber squirt ball, like this:
Ta da.
The kit itself is pretty cheap.
Or maybe tripping over a magazine laying on the bathroom floor and puncturing an ear drum. That thing bled for 3 days and took 2 months for my hearing to return to normal. One of the most painful injuries i have ever had.
Just a few drops (you can soak a q-tip and let it hang over your ear canal and let it drip into your ear) and let it dissolve. If you have the..blue ball thing, then you can take some water and squirt it into your ear to help get the wax out.
I hope this post made sense. :X
I still have ear problems, but no infections anymore. I dry the outside thoroughly with a towel after each shower, and about once a week use small alcohol wipes (like the ones to clean your arm before you get a shot) to clear out the ear. I never get water in my ears anymore, I guess in the shower I have learned how not to get an earful of water. When I go swimming I usually tilt my head to the side, pull down on my earlobe and apply an absorbant towel just inside against the bottom edge of the 'No Zone' (from the pic above). This brings anything still in there rushing out. If it doesn't, the wipes do, but they aren't usually necessary.
I don't know about the hydogen peroxide, but I used to use it on my rabbits when they had ear mites. They didn't like it much but it cleared things up nicely.
The whole new age medicine quackery is a scam, on the whole.
The stuff called Debrox works really well.
One time after going swimming, water got trapped in my ear and I couldn't get it out. I guess it mixed with a waxy buildup and formed some sort of disgusting cement. I used Debrox regularly over the course of a weekend, and used the plastic ball syringe with water as hot as I could stand in the shower while pulling down on my earlobe to "pull open" the ear canal (probably not its recommended use), and it cleared things up. A big disgusting brown ball of sludge rolled out of my ear.