this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2023
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Let’s just say you shouldn’t put a flimsy cotton stick in your ear ~~unless you trust it’ll come out in one piece~~. Just don't.
WHAT? I CANT HEAR YOU!
I have daily for decades and have never had a problem
I did, too, until my early 40s when it caused a ~~wicket~~ wicked ear infection. Tiny pieces of cotton, like threads, eventually built up over time. I ended up with a fungal ear infection that had me in pain and dizzy for weeks. I was very close to having my eardrum burst. Never again. It was really hard to break the habit of using qtips, but it's fine now; ears are self-cleaning.
I know it is not recommended, but I produce a lot of earwax, and if I don't use them sooner or later it will mess up with my ears, actually now that I recall, I have been for years without any issue in my ears 🤔
https://clinere.com/
I use these regularly. I feel like they do the best job and they also allow me to gently "scratch" the inside of my ear. It's not really scratching, but it relieves the itch I can sometimes get.
QTips cause wax plugs, if you use them gently to clean just the outer bit of the ear canal, it is kind of okay, but really you shouldnt. The ear canal is cone shaped so as you insert the Qtip you inevitably push some wax down.
Furthermore the ear canal is self cleaning.
You might not notice them, but id say theres a good chance you have wax plugs built up in your ears from using QTips (and inear headphones if you use them).
Wait, my headphones do this too?? Why is this the first time I'm hearing this? I thought I was being so responsible by not using a q tip on my ears like once a week, but all this time I've still been shoving those bluetooth earbuds in on the daily. Sleeping with them sometimes. I feel like an idiot. What else am I doing wrong?
...Also, what type of headphones do you use, if you don't mind me asking? :')
I never really liked the in-ear feel, I also dislike bluetooth, so my go to for moving is Koss PortaPro, these are very open so no real isolation, however. For bluetooth the staple overear is WM1000xm4, though I have no experience.
Ay thanks for the reply! I'll check em out ^_^
Yes, every day
I'm glad it's worked out for you so far, but you really should stop. Your ears probably don't need to be cleaned at all. You could end up damaging your ears at worst, and at best you're just pushing ear wax deeper into your ears, possibly creating a clog that might not have happened otherwise.
Anecdotally, I stopped cleaning my ears 15-20 years ago, and not once have I had ears clogged due to earwax.