The myth of Q-Tips?

[SuitedSixes]

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A couple coworkers have gone to the doctor to have their ears flushed/cleaned out, and they both said that it was amazing how much got yanked out of their ears and how much cleaner they felt.

I am still scared to try it, though.

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That's how I feel about colon hydrotherapy.

[RunDownHouse]

They said it was uncomfortable, and I'm a big pussy.

[Blarg]

Doctors, like the rest of the human race, also deal with a high percentage of the foolish and the clumsy. It's very possible to clean the ear with Q-tips well, if you use your head and have a bit of patience. It's definitely not the thing to do if you're one of those dudes who rolls up a gigantic ball or toilet paper and in a panic wipes his ass with a few strokes and then bolts from the toilet. You actually have to pay attention.

For one thing, put the damn thing in very slowly and carefully. For another, use several Q-tips and use the first ones to just dab about and pull out any rinds or loose particles of ear wax with just very light contact. For another, apply pressure outward, not inward. You don't want to be packing and grinding stuff inward and downward. For another, some people will never manage to master such things and just grind away. And for another, you have to do this by feel, so parents doing it for their kids, or anyone doing it for someone else, is much more likely to botch it.

[jakethebake]

i thought this was common knowledge.

[gorie]

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They said it was uncomfortable, and I'm a big pussy.

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i think it feels good. it's just a steady flow of water pulsating into your ear for a minute or so, it doesn't hurt. but i have weird ears so maybe that's not normal to like it.

plus it's always fun to look at the globs of wax that came out.

[jakethebake]

The Candle rules.

[CD56]

im a med student, one of the less displeasing things i have to clean out of people is impacted cerumen (earwax) due to q-tips, they can also cause infection because they break the skin surface and let bacteria penetrate into the tissues beneath

however knowing all of this i still use them

[Victor]

the real soft qtips suck. i like the harder ones since they are more abrasive so they clean better.

i love waiting like a month then going to town. its like the best feeling.

[ZeeJustin]

The following info is stolen from this site

CANDLING has gained popularity in recent years. In this technique, a candle is placed in the ear canal. The wick is lighted and the candle is allowed to burn for a short period of time. Supposedly, the burning flame creates a vacuum at the other end of the candle, which can suck wax and other evil humors from the canal. When the candle is removed, the base of candle typically will appear dark brown, leading the person to believe that their ear wax has been removed by candling.
THIS IS A HAZARDOUS AND INEFFECTIVE TECHNIQUE! Hot wax can burn the external ear, and if any gets into the canal it can cause a painful burn, infection, or even a perforation of the ear drum. One could conceivably set one's hair or clothing on fire. REMEMBER: Just because it's ALTERNATIVE, it isn't necessarily GOOD!
(You don't believe me? Check the links on my candling page.)

Link to candling page: here

[ZeeJustin]

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i thought this was common knowledge.

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Nope. I had no idea and am not going to be cleaning my ears out w/ QTips again. I've been meaning to go to an ENT for a nasal dripping problem, so I'll get the wax sucked out when I finally get around to making that trip.