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Kitty4670
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Yesterday, 9:51 pm

Do people use Q-tips to clean ears?



lostonearth35
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Today, 12:07 am

You're not supposed to. You can damage your eardrums. Sometimes the cotton comes loose and gets stuck in there, and a doctor has to remove it. But I'm sure nearly everyone puts Q-Tips in their ears, anyway.



MatchboxVagabond
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Today, 12:12 am

lostonearth35 wrote:
You're not supposed to. You can damage your eardrums. Sometimes the cotton comes loose and gets stuck in there, and a doctor has to remove it. But I'm sure nearly everyone puts Q-Tips in their ears, anyway.


Yep, there is a lot that can go wrong there. It's OK to clean the outer bits, but when you start talking about the area that people actually are cleaning, that tends to cause problems. You can push wax in, you can create micro-cuts that increase risk of infection, you remove the wax that helps to keep things clean.

As far as why everybody does it, it's because there's a nerve in there that people like to stimulate. In most cases, it's best to not clean the ears out at all, although if you've been swimming a mixture of vinegar and rubbing alcohol can be helpful. If you genuinely do need the ears cleaned, then it's as you say, get an expert to do it.



Carbonhalo
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Today, 12:19 am

Q-tips?
Grab a throat swab and RAM IT HOME !

Oh..this isn't Wrong Answers Only?



Sweetleaf
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Today, 2:43 am

Seems you're not supposed to, but I certainly do carefully but still.


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