Q-tips suck at cleaning ear canals. All they do is push the damn ear wax further up inside, worsening my already bad tendency to get impacted wax in the first place. I can only imagine that people who use q-tips to clean have these cavernous canals that make family guy's ear-sex joke actually possible.
It's why I use those meant-for-glasses tiny screwdrivers.
I have a big head and have never understood this impacted wax you normies are always complaining about, so this Cavernous Canal Hypothesis actually makes a lot of sense to me.
Grampa tore his ear drum by using a metal screw...
Have you tried hydrogen peroxide?
It's much, much quicker, simpler, and easier to reach into the ear canal and gently scrape out the wax. The few times I used any fluid, it was a tiresome affair, and it never really got out all of the wax that could start to build. You would have to do it every other day to prevent real buildup, and that would be a gigantic pain.
What are people supposed to use if not Q-tips? I'm actually wondering cause I use Q-tips after every shower
In fact, there’s a lot you don’t need to do nearly as frequently or aggressively unless there’s a specific reason for it. A common one is shampoo, where after a few days of letting it go back to normal your hair will be perfectly fine taking care of itself. I just rinse it every day and that’s been more than enough for many years.
People say that... And yet, in middle school they did a hearing screening, and said I had reduced hearing. I told my mom "that's crazy, my hearing is incredible, I just had earwax in my ears". We went to the doctor anyways, the PA said she couldn't see any earwax even though I could hear it moving around when she put the scope in my ear
I was adamant I just needed to clean my ears, so my mom grabbed some qtips from the exam room when the PA left, I cleaned my ears, and I passed the test perfectly
In my 30s I can still hear those "teen repellants" that whine at a pitch most lose in their early 20s. People look at me weird when I say I heard someone's voice on the wind, and yet I can pinpoint individuals talking normally within a half a mile in a forest
I don't use qtips anymore, I use a metal loop to clean my ears, but for me it's most certainly necessary to clean them somehow
but it gets itchy
Q tips are wide as fuck to prevent people from injuring themselves easily i think. Really what you need is something thinner that has hook like properties and there are kits with those. Still gotta be really careful with that ofcourse. Make sure no people are around to jump scare you and causing you to accidentally ram that thing into your eardrums.
At some point i just bent a piece of wire into a loop to use that. (toothpick for scale) Thats not stainless steel tho so its gonna corrode.
But going to a professional once a year or so is probably not a bad idea either.
You really shouldn't insert anything into your ear canal unless you are a professional, and even then probably wouldn't recommend doing it on yourself.
If you need to clean your ears, there are products specifically made for that (no, q tips are not made for that). Hydrogen peroxide also works.
I’m not a doctor, but they make ear cleaners that are more of a scoop shape. Imo q tips suck because you are trying to scoop with something that isn’t scoop shaped. The scoop allows you to get the earwax without shoving it deeper into the ear.
One thing to bear in mind is there are two earwax types. I can only speak for my type, which is sticky.
I think nothing but if it gets too much get it taken out professionally. I'll have to recheck tho
try dipping the ends in cold water first
The cap of Bic pens!
Allows you to scoop and clean without the fear of going too deep (adults only).
Bobby pins.
I got my ears vacuumed the other day at the ENT clinic. Unfortunately I'm one of those people that gets a lot of wax build up. Copying the grown ups using cotton buds to clear the wax just meant I was constantly getting ear infections as a kid. As an adult, I'd get wax build up, I'd try olive oil as my GPs would always recommend, only that would make it clog up more and muffle my hearing. Then the only way to get that big plug of soggy wax out was either to fish it out with a bit of screwed up tissue or a cotton bud, or to blast it with the power shower to dislodge it.
I finally perforated my ear drum in September from an infection that went to the middle ear. Anyway, I got my ears vacuum cleaned on Thursday and was told by the ENT doctor to use a pharmaceutical grade olive oil spray (not drops) every day forever to stop the wax clogging. So let's hope that works.
I think I was given peroxide based ear drops once when I was 12 or so, but it made my jaw swell so much I couldn't even eat.
I went to Amazon and got an ear wax removal tool. It has an arm with a soft latex scooping tip and a camera and a light. It has wifi and you hook it up to your phone so you can see the camera. I was having custom ear plugs made and I needed to get things squeaky clean. It worked surprisingly well and is the best way to clear things out completely imo. It's also pretty interesting to see what is going on in there. I also have a little syringe thing I keep in the shower to use on a more regular basis.
The reason not to do it isn’t about being careful. It’s about pushing wax deeper into your ear canal where it impacts the eardrum.
It's called the Q-spot.
BTW if you end up with an impacted ear drum or you just want to deeply clean your ears: peroxide. Just tilt your head sideways and pour it in. Let it sit for a while and it will break up enough wax to dislodge it. You might find that you can hear much better after.
I leave it sit for 23 seconds, then hit it with 1 Tbsp of baking soda and plug the hole.
Good friend of mine for a bit of fibre stuck in there from the Q tip, it got infected and blew her ear drum...
Many people insisting on digging out, others on peroxide. You’re both right.
Use earwax softener in your ears to make the job easier. Then, a day or two later, use a disposable ear cleaning stick, using rotary, not pushing motions. The wax will still be soft and come out much more easily.
That’s gotten huge quantities out for me, saving me from the feeling that I’m underwater.
A squeeze bulb and warm water seem to do the trick for me.
For me, water goes in, stays forever. Something that's happened since I've aged. Swam competitively in high school, never had a problem. Now, if I tilt my head wrong in the shower, good luck.
Oo mox
Glad I don't have ear wax build up, never even thought to stick something in my ears, seems scary
It is, I hurt my ears several times every year, had to put medicine on it and everything, now I just go to a doctor once a year to do a professional clean up and it's all good.
one of them anyway
wtf is this anti-qtip propaganda that I keep on seeing? Are these posts paid for by qtip's competitors or something? This is all bullshit. Qtips are literally called "ear picks" in some languages. Sure, cleaning your ears is not strictly necessary, but if you want to do it (e.g. if you don't want to leave earwax on your earbuds), there's no problem as long as you're careful.
