To maintain the cleanliness of our ears, q-tips can do used to remove a build-up of wax that might even be blocking some of your hearing. Health professionals recommend that you should only use a q-tip to rim the outer corners of your ears. But are you one of those people that still have an undying tendency to take the q-tip deep down your ears until you get that tickling sensation?
Ooooh Yeah!! I love it when I reach that tickling sensation, specially when my ears starts to itch, I go crazy with the q-tips getting it deep inside my ears, and just like you said, it gives a chill and tickling sensation that I really enjoy!
I used to do the same, but just last year, I had this problem where my right ear would bleed after cleaning it. I went to the doctor and he said that I should stop pushing the q-tip too deep in the ear canal. He said it's actually better to just let the wax sort of gush out by itself, though it feels icky. He also recommended one of those suction devices.
I clean my ears most every day because I can't stand the feeling of wax buildup and yes, I clean a bit deeper because if I don't I get nasty orange thick wax - I hate it. I mean I'm not scrubbing my eardrum with the qtip but I have to go deep enough to get most of it out.
I use Q-tips to dry out the inside of my ear after showering. I hate how they feel wet inside before I do that. I am very careful though as I know it is possible to hurt yourself doing that if you are too rough or push in too far.
I only use q-tips on the rim of the opening of my ears. Ear wax is actually good for your ears. It helps to protect things from going in your ears and also protects you from getting infections in your ears. I only clean the wax if it goes out of my ear canal and that is when I use a q-tip.
I didn't use to use q-tips for a long, long time. I would wash my ears and be satisfied until.... One day I was very off balanced in my head. I didn't know what was going on so I went to the doctor. There I was treated for wax build up with a water irrigation. The doctor asked me if I used q-tips, no. He educated me on its use. My question (which I didn't ask the doctor) if I never used them before and this happened, who's to say that if I begin using them that I will have to return to the doctor again? So from the day forward I've been using q-tips and I haven't been to the doctor for that since. And yes, until I get that tingly feeling.
It is not recommended to use Q-tips or any foreign objects to remove ear wax or cerumen from your ears. Our ears have a natural cleaning mechanism to prevent infections or stasis of bacteria/entry of foreign pathogens. Cerumen or ear wax is that sticky substance cells lining our external ear canal produces as part of this cleaning mechanism. It is not necessary to remove them using Q-tips as they will be expelled on their own. Using Q-tips to clean your ears may instead cause damage to the delicate lining of your ear canal resulting in infections. It can also push the ear wax further into the ear canal causing impactation which would lead to hearing loss (conductive hearing loss) and would require medical attention (water irrigation) for removal of the impacted wax. Perforation of the tympanic membrane (ear drum) is also possible if the Q-tip is inserted too far in! Leave your ears alone and let them do their thing!
I've heard that the recommended use be only up to the outer part of your ear but I usually go in because it feels much better. I've also read some comments online noting that too much cleaning might only cause more harm so I try and minimize my usage of qtips. I still prefer using the stainless still rods that are shaped like mini spoons because I think it's better since it doesn't end up pushing all the wax inwards.
DrRipley, Stainless steel rods that look like mini spoons? Really? I've never heard of such things. Sounds scary. That being said, I've always heard that your ears grow til you die, but I'm thinking that's wrong because as I was doing the Q-tip thing this morning it hit me--yet again, lately--that my ears are closing up. The Q-tips don't seem to fit in there like they used to. Can't explain it any other way, but I think that instead of the ears growing til we die they instead stay the same size while everything around them (except for the nose and the lips) starts shrinking somewhere around middle age. That would explain why my ears seem to be closing up. Has anyone else noticed this odd trick of nature? And with my ears closing up and all I'd have to say, no, I don't push the Q-tip very far in these days.
Really you are only suppose to do the outer part of the ear. Though, I tend to stick it in a little bit to get any other visible wax build up. You'd be surprised how people will just look into your ears for some reason.
