Q-tips should never go in your ear!

[Jennasis]

Q-tips don't clean the wax out, it just pushes it in further. They also will not dry out your ear once water has gotten in. There are drops for both cleaning out excessive wax and for drying out water. Consult your doctor. Ear wax is SUPPOSED to be there. It protects your ears from dirt, bactieria and water etc...when you build up too much it pushes out towards the outer canal, where it dries up and flakes off (when you strick your finger in your ear and feel cruties, that's old ear wax).

I only use Q-tips for cleaning behind my ear and the outer part that I can see looking in the mirror.

I do understand the "icky-gunky-it-feels-nasty" thing you guys are talking about, but Q-tips do more harm then good if you put it INTO your ear. Period.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

OP here. I'm surprised by all the responses (and confessions). A few comments...

It is fine to use a Q-tip to clean around the outer ear and the opening to the canal. You just shouldn't enter the canal.

It just isn't possible to enter the canal carefully because you can't see where you are going. And, as disykat mentioned, sometimes stuff happens. One of the punctured drums I saw recently happened that way. Mom was cleaning her ears and her DS bumped into her arm.

So how do you clean your ear canals? The basic answer is you don't. Clean the outer part with a washcloth or a Q-tip. If you build up an exceptional amount of wax inside, use some wax removal drops like Debrox. If that doesn't work, go to the doctor and have him/her remove it. We have instruments specifically designed for that purpose, plus we can do it with well-lit magnification so we can see what we are doing.

So Dr. Steve say I use that Debrox in my ear how does the stuff come out?? I mean does it just run out unexpectedly or do you need to go in and somehow clean it out and then that brings me to ....how do you do that without Q tips?? I am serious. I just cannot figure how to clean my ears without them. I want to stop truly. My mother has had hearing loss and they attribute it in part to her using Q tips for years.

 

[disneymom3]

OP here. I'm surprised by all the responses (and confessions). A few comments...

It is fine to use a Q-tip to clean around the outer ear and the opening to the canal. You just shouldn't enter the canal.

Okay, I am okay then. I only clean off the wax that is stuck on the ear outside of the canal for DS never going into the area I cannot see. I also make sure he is sitting in a hard chair and no one else is around as I don't want him to tip or something or me to get bumped.

Thanks a lot for clearing that up.

 

[yeartolate]

Crap.

Is there a 12 step program for those who use Q tips to clean out their ears?

 

[Marseeya]

So Dr. Steve say I use that Debrox in my ear how does the stuff come out?? I mean does it just run out unexpectedly or do you need to go in and somehow clean it out and then that brings me to ....how do you do that without Q tips?? I am serious. I just cannot figure how to clean my ears without them. I want to stop truly. My mother has had hearing loss and they attribute it in part to her using Q tips for years.

I had to use that stuff a long time ago when I had a huge buildup in my ears (this was Dr.'s orders). When I bought the Debrox, it came with one of those sucky, bulb thingies... you know, the things you use to suck snot out of a baby's nose? Anyway, you fill it with warm water and gently flush your ear out. I think that's only for a lot of buildup though.

 

[Cindyluwho]

Okie dokie Dr. Steve, another question. How about using peroxide to bubble up all that gross gook out of the ear? My mom always did that to us kids when we were little. After the bubbling stops, roll over and drain it all onto a paper towel. It's amazing how much stuff bubbles out of there. ick!!!

 

[sha_lyn]

When you stick a q-tip in a young child's ear, you are just forcing the wax further in. Over time, it just packs together, and the doctor has to flush out the ears, and then you see the "wax tube" that was in your child's ear. That should be enough to tell you not to use q-tips *inside* the ear. Use them on the outside all you want, but never put them in the ear canal.

Well there has never been a "wax tube" in my ears, DH's ears or the kids ears.

How do you get the water out of your ears? I seem to get ear aches if they stay wet at all.. and after a few days ear infections. I have one now becuase we ran out at Disney last week.

DH will actually get bloody sores in his ears if he doesn't dry them out with a Qtip.
DS and I will both get infections.
If I use the drying drops after a shower, my ears dry out too much and get very irritated.

 

[nwdisgal]

Oops, I'm a Q-tip ear cleaner too, I confess. I know it's wrong, but there are times when my ear is so itchy from the wax, I just can't resist.

At least I'm not as bad as my DH, though. He takes the cotton fluff OFF the Q-tip before using it in his ear! You'd be horrified to know everything he puts in his ear -- a straightened paper clip, pencil tip, utility knife, a pen cap. He's got seborrheic dermatitis and the itching drives him insane.

 

[mtemm]

Okie dokie Dr. Steve, another question. How about using peroxide to bubble up all that gross gook out of the ear? My mom always did that to us kids when we were little. After the bubbling stops, roll over and drain it all onto a paper towel. It's amazing how much stuff bubbles out of there. ick!!!

omg, I have never heard of anyone doing this until recently. a friend of mine does it to her 2 year old son and I was floored...it sounded so strange to me. but then, I'm not a q-tip user, either (and my ears really are clean).

 

[disneysteve]

At least I'm not as bad as my DH, though. He takes the cotton fluff OFF the Q-tip before using it in his ear! You'd be horrified to know everything he puts in his ear -- a straightened paper clip, pencil tip, utility knife, a pen cap.

I remember looking in a patient's ear once and seeing a blue mark in the canal. Turns out when her ear itched, she scratched it by sticking her pen in her ear.

 

[disneysteve]

Okie dokie Dr. Steve, another question. How about using peroxide to bubble up all that gross gook out of the ear?

That's actually perfectly safe. Debrox is carbamide peroxide. In our office, when we flush ears, we mix peroxide with warm water.

 

[dustysky]

I'm overweight, I talk to strangers, and I stick Q-tips in my ear....I'm a total loss.

wow i wonder if we are twins seperated at birth, sure does sound like it.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Mine says to "stroke gently around the outer surface of the ear without entering the ear canal.".

So one "could" clean the ears with these things. Just don't POKE!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Or do it like GWB: He simply lets Laura blow into one of his ears and all the residual wax flies out the other one

(whaddya know? I can laugh at jokes at hte expense of W. )

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

So how about those candles that you light, and the wax kinda gets sucked up thru a tube as the candle burns? Friend of mine says that's the way to go.

 

[themarquis]

Just by coincidence, I had to go to the dr. yesterday to get a huge plug of dried ear crust irrigated out of my left ear. I had gone completely deaf! The nurse let me look at it and it was definitely "wax tube" shaped and about half an inch long! So I can definitely confirm that this happens.

Just for the record, I do not use q-tips inside the ear canal. No ... I am one of those fortunate people who is blessed with an overabundance of earwax, plus narrow ear canals (due to scarring from childhood ear infections). In fact, this has happened to me at least once a year since I was a kid. Lots of trips to the dr. The few times I tried to use q-tips to get the stuff out, it DID push it further into the ear, speeding the process of plug formation.

Dr. Steve, do you have any advice? I have tried irrigating my own ears with a bulb tip ear thingy (the kind for cleaning out babies' ears), OTC ear drops, peroxide solution, even olive oil in the ears ... you name it. What is a poor girl to do???

I'm a bit embarrassed but this time at the doc, I did ... erm ... pocket the blunt-tip syringe the nurse used to irrigate my ear after she left the room. I definitely plan on doing a bit of DIY ear care with it .... hehe.

 

[JPN4265]

Consider this a public service announcement, and an important safety tip.

DON'T EVER PUT A Q-TIP IN YOUR EAR OR YOUR KID'S EAR!

I can't tell you how many patients ignore that warning, which is printed right on the package, and end up in my office with ear damage, sometimes serious damage. Just last week, I saw two patients who punctured their ear drums with Q-tips.

Use Q-tips to apply makeup. Use them to paint models. Use them to detail your car. But never, ever, ever use them in your ears.

Mabe if you didn't shove them in so deep?

 

[tar heel]

I'm another who will admit to Qtipping the ears immediately after drying off after my shower. It has to be safer than the bobby pins my mom used to use!

 

[BuzzBoyMom]

I'm a user!!! In fact, just last night my boys got out of the pool and I guess all that water, well, they had really disgusting "stuff" just sitting there in their ears teasing me! It was sooo gross!! There is no way any rationale mother could let their child go to bed with that stuff just sitting ther waiting for a Q Tip....so I got one out - actually it took 6 to get it out

 

[Jennasis]

Looks like there's gonna be a LOT of prematurely deaf or hearing impaired people in the future (my DH among them!). No amount of begging, pleading or anything can get him to stop. Even his doctor tried "scolding" him a few years ago when he got hay (yes, I said hay) lodged in his ear. He must've had a small piece near the entrance of the canal, and his daily Q-tip ritual just crammed it in further.