― the surface noise (electricsound), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 23:47 (twenty years ago) link
― gygax! (gygax!), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 23:52 (twenty years ago) link
― mark s (mark s), Thursday, 6 November 2003 00:12 (twenty years ago) link
― d k (d k), Thursday, 6 November 2003 00:29 (twenty years ago) link
― mark s (mark s), Thursday, 6 November 2003 10:42 (twenty years ago) link
― Enrique (Enrique), Thursday, 6 November 2003 10:50 (twenty years ago) link
my doctor said that cotton buds are intensely irritating to ears, as the tiny fibres make miniscule cuts inside on the delicate surface. I believe him.
― penelope (penelope), Thursday, 6 November 2003 10:51 (twenty years ago) link
I could actually do with getting my ears cleaned out properly. It's been far too long. Not since the last time I had an ear infection! It's not the cotton buds that do the damage, it's all those strange fizzing solutions and ear candles and the like that I used to use when my ears got waxy. I used to have endless trouble with my ears, and everything I used just made them worse. And then my ear doctor told me to stop poking them, and they got better and I never had an ear infection again!
But still, there is nothing in the world that feels better than a good satisfying poke at one's ears with a cotton bud. Except maybe multiple orgasms.
(It helps if you let hot water run into your ears during the shower to soften up the earwax, and then poke immediately after getting out of the shower.)
― Citizen Kate (kate), Thursday, 6 November 2003 10:56 (twenty years ago) link
― chris (chris), Thursday, 6 November 2003 11:10 (twenty years ago) link
― Citizen Kate (kate), Thursday, 6 November 2003 11:12 (twenty years ago) link
― chris (chris), Thursday, 6 November 2003 11:13 (twenty years ago) link
― the sleepyshy speck o' sillysnow, Thursday, 6 November 2003 11:16 (twenty years ago) link
I might start my own aural pleasure service.
€€€$$$£££
― penelope (penelope), Thursday, 6 November 2003 11:25 (twenty years ago) link
― Citizen Kate (kate), Thursday, 6 November 2003 11:25 (twenty years ago) link
ker-ching!
― penelope (penelope), Thursday, 6 November 2003 11:53 (twenty years ago) link
― Citizen Kate (kate), Thursday, 6 November 2003 11:53 (twenty years ago) link
― penelope (penelope), Thursday, 6 November 2003 12:05 (twenty years ago) link
― Mandee, Thursday, 6 November 2003 12:07 (twenty years ago) link
― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Thursday, 6 November 2003 12:33 (twenty years ago) link
― penelope (penelope), Thursday, 6 November 2003 12:58 (twenty years ago) link
"I'm not just the company co-founder... I'm a CLIENT, too!"
::sticks thingey in ear and buzzes happily::
― Citizen Kate (kate), Thursday, 6 November 2003 12:59 (twenty years ago) link
!BUY NOW, take yourself to a nice private place later!
lawks, I haf struck gold
TO CHINA!!!
― penelope (penelope), Thursday, 6 November 2003 13:05 (twenty years ago) link
― Pinkpanther (Pinkpanther), Thursday, 6 November 2003 13:11 (twenty years ago) link
motherfucker
― epic board man (history mayne), Wednesday, 24 February 2010 10:37 (fourteen years ago) link
http://www.slate.com/blogs/normal/2016/10/31/removing_earwax_with_a_paperclip_is_magic_and_not_at_all_recommended.html
― mookieproof, Monday, 31 October 2016 20:33 (seven years ago) link
One of my favorite factoids is that, while skin color is an utterly useless way to categorize racial groups, ear wax provides a scientifically sound point of racial division within humanity, along the line of wet & sticky ear wax vs. dry and crumbly ear wax.
― a little too mature to be cute (Aimless), Monday, 31 October 2016 20:43 (seven years ago) link
clapton health centre no longer offers ear irrigation
― mark s, Monday, 31 October 2016 20:51 (seven years ago) link
"learn to love your wax": https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2017/nov/28/put-down-the-cotton-buds-a-quick-guide-to-cleaning-ear-wax?CMP=twt_gu
― mark s, Tuesday, 28 November 2017 14:05 (six years ago) link
what is going be the next au naturale hipster phase? People not wiping their arse anymore and wallowing in their own shit?
― calzino, Tuesday, 28 November 2017 14:11 (six years ago) link
The big question is, how smelly is he? “The best evidence is from my girlfriend, who says I have a smell but not an offensive one,” he says. “I smell like a person, instead of smelling like a product.”
― calzino, Tuesday, 28 November 2017 14:18 (six years ago) link
"arseskin migration” occasionally malfunctions so you sometimes need to go private and hire a powerful sucker
― mark s, Tuesday, 28 November 2017 14:19 (six years ago) link
The number of times I've stepped out of the shower and haven't immediately Q-tipped my ears can probably be counted on one hand. They're a more important hygiene item for me than toothpaste.
― Sanpaku, Tuesday, 28 November 2017 15:29 (six years ago) link
I read a sad Francis Ryan comment recently about austerity making hygiene products an unaffordable luxury to many at the moment. That is what pisses me off about this wave of bad hygiene good claptrap in the Graun. Being dirty and smelly is not good for anyone's well being, nor their colleagues/friends for that matter, and people touting it as a lifestyle option are moronic hippies.
― calzino, Tuesday, 28 November 2017 16:03 (six years ago) link
I would absolutely cringe if I noticed somebody I was talking to had a big waxy chunk in their ear. That is disgusting ffs!
― calzino, Tuesday, 28 November 2017 16:12 (six years ago) link
I think there are probably good reasons to cut down (not eliminate) use of many hygiene products, notably shampoo, specialty soaps, shave creams etc. Certainly heavy perfume/cologne. But deodorant, toothpaste, shower gel (which doubles as shave cream), razor refills, and Q-tips are a tiny tiny part of my cost of living. When I can't afford $1.50 for a year's worth of Q-tips, I'll also be homeless and begging in the esplanade.
― Sanpaku, Tuesday, 28 November 2017 16:21 (six years ago) link
Francis was talking about people who are needing foodbank assistance to eat, so basics like deodorants and toothpaste are off the shopping list for starters.
― calzino, Tuesday, 28 November 2017 16:27 (six years ago) link
ENTs and doctors have been recommending me and my family to not clean with cotton swabs for as long as i can remember
i clean with a cotton swab maybe once every month or two months because i'm a bit of a germaphobe
i like smelling like product instead of like human
― i n f i n i t y (∞), Tuesday, 28 November 2017 16:34 (six years ago) link
i smell like clean laundry
― brimstead, Tuesday, 28 November 2017 16:58 (six years ago) link
As someone who Hannah Horvathed herself a couple years ago and punctured my ear drum with a q-tip, I can honestly say DO NOT STICK ANYTHING SMALLER THAN THE TIP OF YOUR ELBOW IN YOUR EAR. TBF, I've had problems in that ear for decades but still DO NOT DO THIS.
― Benson and the Jets (ENBB), Tuesday, 28 November 2017 17:11 (six years ago) link
the worst pain i've ever had to endure came from an infected canal caused by trying to clear an ear of impacted wax using non-invasive techniques like warm olive oil and cerumol ear drops
― mark s, Tuesday, 28 November 2017 18:46 (six years ago) link
Pro-Q-tip: hold them close to the cotton swabbing, so that your own thumbnail prevents them from entering too far. Personally, I first dip them in 90% rubbing alcohol, which improve earwax solubility.
But I cannot stand the sensation of ichy ear canals that results when I don't clean them. Plus, I spend a couple hours a day wearing in-ear headphones, and its just more pleasant to see spotless earbuds at a guy's neck than ones encrusted with cerumen.
― Sanpaku, Tuesday, 28 November 2017 19:30 (six years ago) link
The day my own little finger ain't the right size to clean out my earhole is the day the diet starts in earnest
― moyesery loves kompany (darraghmac), Tuesday, 28 November 2017 22:50 (six years ago) link
because you won't be able to eat ear wax anymore?
― erry red flag (f. hazel), Tuesday, 28 November 2017 22:53 (six years ago) link
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/331790326331-0-0/s-l140/p.jpg
I use this washable stainless steel thing that will probably give some people the horrors and cotton buds. But I've never fucked my ears up yet.
― calzino, Tuesday, 28 November 2017 23:01 (six years ago) link
xp nope but I'm curious about either the enormity of fingers or tininess of earholes itt maybe
― moyesery loves kompany (darraghmac), Tuesday, 28 November 2017 23:31 (six years ago) link
hullo from my stupid blocked ears to this thread again, which when first begun appalled and offended doomie so much he started another thread to complain
― mark s, Tuesday, 23 April 2019 10:10 (five years ago) link
Ugh. I'm sorry - so uncomfortable. My left is blocked rn too but not because of wax - I have a hole in and a weeping cyst on my left eardrum but it's awful and uncomfortable and also made it quite difficult to hear anyone last week!
― Benson and the Jets (ENBB), Tuesday, 23 April 2019 10:22 (five years ago) link
start with the drops that have a mild peroxide gel, flush with lukewarm water with the rubber syringe bulb
these things work ok if it's really stuck in therehttps://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81X7N2-hpQL._SL1500_.jpg
do NOT use the pen cap from a cheap ballpoint pen. it feels good, though
― mh, Tuesday, 23 April 2019 14:02 (five years ago) link
pen cap is a personal fave but you prob shouldn't listen to me wrt anything involving proper ear care
― Benson and the Jets (ENBB), Tuesday, 23 April 2019 14:13 (five years ago) link
I can't get out of the shower without q-tipping my ear canals. I once used a fiber optic video inspection device to have a good look, and they were pristine. One could eat off them.
― Insert bad pun (Sanpaku), Tuesday, 23 April 2019 14:26 (five years ago) link
earchitecture!
several days of debrox once flushed a pea-sized chunk of wax out of me which fled down the drain before i could capture and properly admire it. miss u boo <3
cats think earwax is delicious. yours or theirs or anyone’s, they love it all and it makes an excellent bribe.
― Society for the Preservation of (cat), Sunday, 22 May 2022 16:06 (one year ago) link
tbh getting water in mine when there's a build-up already there is usually when they start to get bad: i've started wearing ear plugs when i wash my hair (i think this just postpones the problem but for a while at least it means i'm not going around for three days after the hairwash unable to hear anything)
― mark s, Sunday, 22 May 2022 16:07 (one year ago) link
lol also i just turned the TV on for the first since the syringing and it is absolutely BOOMING so apologies to my downstairs neighbour this whole week i kind of knew i had it on max volume (bcz i can see where the bar is) but it just didn't SOUND loud
― mark s, Sunday, 22 May 2022 16:13 (one year ago) link
Maybe for USAers only: I just let the plugged ear marinade with Debrox overnight then use the little blue bulb in the shower with warm water the next morning. After five minutes or so of flushing the ear the chunks should come out but it takes patience.
― DAMAGED by Black Flat (Boring, Maryland), Sunday, 22 May 2022 17:33 (one year ago) link
Glad I’m also not the only one that kind of wants to admire what comes out.
― DAMAGED by Black Flat (Boring, Maryland), Sunday, 22 May 2022 17:34 (one year ago) link
Suffolk man makes candle from his ear wax
― mark s, Sunday, 22 May 2022 17:43 (one year ago) link
see, my ear canals must be twisty narrow lil’ bastidges because once liquid gets in there it won’t leave without a fight. hence my usual protocol: 1 ear gets debroxed 2x daily for nigh on a week (until it clears out or i sullenly concede) and hearing duties devolve entirely upon the backup ear. then once first ear regains functionality it’s the backup ear’s turn.
v. excited to try out the Boring, Maryland method & will report back when my ear disgorges a brain-sized blob of goo!
― Society for the Preservation of (cat), Sunday, 22 May 2022 22:33 (one year ago) link
I've never let it sit overnight. I might try that, since I am always convinced I'm not getting anywhere near all of the wax out (as my occasional visits to the clinic when I can't hear have confirmed).
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Sunday, 22 May 2022 22:35 (one year ago) link
in case anyone was wondering who got the best xmas presents this year it was me, i did, santa loves me best, sorry to all you itchy-eared also-rans
for my year of ceaseless rectitude i have been gifted a sleek set of stainless steel ear picks/scoops/tiny rounded springy things AND a state-of-the-art $3 lighted otoscope that plugs into either my phone or computer for to see that which mine eyes were never meant to see, viz. wax deposits dating back several presidents
i'll give you all a moment to come to terms with the envy that is no doubt devouring you alive
moment over, back to gloating: this is unequivocally the best cheap garbage i ever bought for myself got for any holiday ever!!! i now understand why dogs do that thing with their leg when you skritch their ears, and why my kitties would so often maneuver their heads around so as to jam my finger up in their ear holes when i was just trying to rub their poochy little chins and cheeks. this is a transcendent sensation. i cannot believe how much of my life i have wasted not scraping my ear canals. it feels delicious. i never want this feeling to end. i want to hire a crew of tiny people to climb in there and just go to town with the teensiest little scrub brushes and i want them to live there forever. all the A+ to these miraculous products, all the gold stars, all the hosannas and hullabaloo! i hereby dedicate myself to the furtherance of their glorification until the end of my days or until i puncture an ear drum.
― doctor w00t (cat), Sunday, 1 January 2023 16:37 (one year ago) link
this is the end goal pretty much
https://thememescraps.files.wordpress.com/2020/02/hot-shots-brain-floss.gif
by the way in my trawling for this gif i discovered the existence of ear floss and wish i hadn't
― doctor w00t (cat), Sunday, 1 January 2023 18:19 (one year ago) link
just got the microsuction and i feel like i'm on e
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 13 February 2024 14:32 (two months ago) link
I saw an ENT doctor last year and he suctioned out my left ear, it seemed to take close to 5 minutes and was incredibly painful, do not recommend
― Muad'Doob (Moodles), Tuesday, 13 February 2024 14:45 (two months ago) link
oh no! Mine was not painful at all.. even though it did vaguely feel like giving birth to a small alien. The aural sensation is extremely unpleasant
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 13 February 2024 14:57 (two months ago) link
but there's a catharsis when it's over, at least in my case.. I actually cried lol
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 13 February 2024 14:58 (two months ago) link
I'm getting mine done every three or four months (for some reason) and my experience is definitely much closer to Moodles'.
― The British Boy of Film Classification (Tom D.), Tuesday, 13 February 2024 15:05 (two months ago) link
I have a bum ear so I get the suction often and I love it. It always feels amazing to me.
― Benson and the Jets (ENBB), Tuesday, 13 February 2024 15:20 (two months ago) link
I should do this. I usually have blocked ears for about 3 months a year until it naturally clears. Once I got my ears syringed at the surgery and it was incredibly painful
― cajunsunday, Tuesday, 13 February 2024 15:26 (two months ago) link
I did the home wax cleaning thing a couple years back (with the bubbly peroxide solution and the rubber bulb to rinse it out) and a few days later I got a gnarly case of vertigo... I thought I'd had a stroke for a minute until I did a little research
Anyway, I'm just gonna let that stuff drop out when it's ready
― Andy the Grasshopper, Tuesday, 13 February 2024 18:44 (two months ago) link
narrator voice: it will never be ready
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 13 February 2024 19:21 (two months ago) link
what if the wax is all that's holding my brain in?
― wang mang band (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 13 February 2024 19:30 (two months ago) link
only one to find out!
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Tuesday, 13 February 2024 19:36 (two months ago) link
narrator: there were other ways to find out
nothing more satisfying than when a big waxy pachinko ball decides to drop down the chute on its own accord
― Andy the Grasshopper, Tuesday, 13 February 2024 19:44 (two months ago) link
Is this ear wax vacuuming maybe just a UK thing? Doesn't seem to be as much a thing in the USofA
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Tuesday, 13 February 2024 22:09 (two months ago) link
I see a lot of banner ads that are all "If you have tinnitus, do this easy thing at home" and it's fucking annoying because I know it's all bullshit
― Andy the Grasshopper, Tuesday, 13 February 2024 22:26 (two months ago) link