Ear wax anyone

Soldato
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I believe the best way to use earbuds is to not go any deeper than the bud on the end. Use it to clean just the outside of the ear canal, which - when functioning normally - pushes out the dead skin and wax anyway. Cleaning inside is bad because you should have some wax in there anyway, and the risk of going to deep and pushing it through your eardrum. Bleh!
 
Soldato
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I know cotton buds get a lot of bad press but i've been using them for the best part of 20 years without any ill effect.

I think it basically boils down to whether you have wet or dry ear wax, and your "technique". If you are jamming them in your ears without any thought as to what you're doing, then yes, you'll probably end up with problems.
 
Soldato
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I know cotton buds get a lot of bad press but i've been using them for the best part of 20 years without any ill effect.

I think it basically boils down to whether you have wet or dry ear wax, and your "technique". If you are jamming them in your ears without any thought as to what you're doing, then yes, you'll probably end up with problems.

I have epic failed with cotton buds in the past, and ending up blocking my ear completely. I have always been told :

"Nothing smaller than your elbow in your ear"......in short nothing.

I know people though that do swear by it.
 
Soldato
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I made the mistake recently of pushing a cotton bud too deep into my ear canal and completely blocked my ear. After five days of little to no hearing in one ear, having to use ear drops and then flushing the wax out with a syringe, I've learned my lesson. Now I just clean the outer ear.
 
Soldato
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I was told not to use anything except water to clean your ears. You shouldn't routinely pull the wax out as it's there it's protect the inner ear and catch any crap which might get in.
 
Soldato
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I was told not to use anything except water to clean your ears. You shouldn't routinely pull the wax out as it's there it's protect the inner ear and catch any crap which might get in.

To get to the inner ear it would have to pass the ear drum, unless there is a hole in it thats not going to happen ..
 
Soldato
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Earwax time!

Thread revival!

Ruddy ears are blocked up. Hardly hear a thing. Will be syringing them myself next week with my 'Water pik'.

Ok, its meant for teeth, but, it flushes the wax out! Must be careful though as it is quite powerful. Last time i hurt me ear!
 
Man of Honour
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Had a bout of it with my right ear a week back :( for two weeks could barely hear my headphones on that side and if I blocked my other ear could only hear about 10% as well as normal - fortunately has gone back to normal now.
 
Associate
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I always use cotton buds to do a quick clean of my ears after a shower, been doing it for at least 20yrs and I'm 35 now. Never had any issues, never had any ear infections and my hearing is still perfect.
 
Associate
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Apparently the NHS has stopped providing ear wax syringe (maybe unless its painful). I've had it done twice and besides the general unpleasantness of having it done its an instant relief being able to hear in detail again. Wearing headphones more often can cause your ears to become warmer than usual which causes bacteria to grow also more than usual and your body produces more wax to clean them out. My routine is to clean with finger nails and soap while in the shower, this is more the outer part of the ear, somehow water doesnt get inside when im doing this, i think because the ear canal is angled up a bit (so if I stand over a sink to wash my hair i get water inside my ears every time - also happens every time i stand on my head in the shower so i had to stop doing that too, life just isnt worth living anymore is it). Then post shower, with towel dried ears, fold a piece of tissue paper in half and again and twist a corner loosely and twist than in not too far and twist to get a lot of crap out :) You'll know you went too far if you feel intense pain ;) your ear doesn't explode or anything, the tissue just touched your ear drum and its your bodies way of saying back off buddy. anyway thats my ear cleaning method :)

Why yes I do take a while in the bathroom :)
 
Associate
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Cats absolutely love ear wax. The look of disgust on their face when they are licking it off your finger is priceless, but they can't seem to stop themselves doing it.
 
Soldato
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Earwax time!

Thread revival!

Ruddy ears are blocked up. Hardly hear a thing. Will be syringing them myself next week with my 'Water pik'.

Ok, its meant for teeth, but, it flushes the wax out! Must be careful though as it is quite powerful. Last time i hurt me ear!
That sounds like an incredibly, incredibly, dumb thing to do.

Why not spend the six quid and get the reverse syringe kit?
https://smile.amazon.co.uk/Acu-Life...eywords=ear+wax+syringe&qid=1630144128&sr=8-5

Do it in the shower with warm water from the shower head...
 
Soldato
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Man of Honour
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I use cotton buds to clean and dry my ears after a shower, but I DON’T go deep, just inside the ear orifice.
When the banning of cotton buds from sale in U.K. was first mooted a couple of years ago, I brought a large drum of them back from the U.S., where they’re sometimes called cotton swabs.
I don’t know whether she did it because she loved me or she was a raving masochist, but when I was a kid, 8, 9, or 10, my mother would lay my head in her lap and drip hair dye peroxide in my ears to remove any wax.
It didn’t hurt, but the roaring, rushing sound in my ears as the peroxide ate into the wax, frightened the life out of me, after maybe 60 seconds she’d turn my head over, and the dislodged liquid wax would drip out on to a dishcloth, which went straight into the trash can, eew!
 
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