If this helps one DU'er, or non-DU'er, it's worth posting.

[raccoon]

Last night I was cleaning my ears with Q-tips and afterwards I noticed that one of the cotton ends on the stick was missing.
Did it come that way....or was the other cotton end in my ear?

I panicked, but managed to calm myself. I didn't FEEL anything...and I was hearing OK...

I rarely go to the doctor, one reason is I have an individual insurance plan with a humongous deductible.
But I decided that this morning I'd call my family doctor and go. Either that or worry worry worry.

I went to the doctor and he looked in my ear and didn't see anything. Thank goodness!

Anyway, my fellow DU'ers, my purpose in posting this is to warn you: Don't clean out your ears with Q-tips.
(I've always been told that and from now on, I won't.)

If you do clean out your ears with Q-tips, make sure the thing has both cotton ends on it before sticking it in your ear.

:-) :hi:

[Kali]

1. pocket knife

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[Tuesday Afternoon]

2. ear spoon

This is a reproduction of an original cast pewter ear spoon and nail scraper from the late 1400's. The original had a bent and damaged nail scraper, which has been corrected in the reproduction to conform with other sickle-shaped scrapers from this time. Cosmetic implements such as these were popular for many centuries and have been found in a variety of materials from Roman times through to the late Renaissance.

Ear picks, also called ear scoops, or ear spoons, are a type of curette used to clean the ear canal of earwax (cerumen). These are traditionally made from bamboo or precious metals such as silver or gold, but more commonly from stainless steel or plastic.

Use of an ear pick is hazardous<1><2><3> and may be ineffective or counter-productive, acting instead to increase earwax production.<1>

more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear_spoon

[progressoid]

6. Good Lord.

Keep that thing away from me. :scared:

[Kali]

9. took me a second to realize you were you!

I am obviously better with avatars than names!:rofl:

there is somebody here with MFM's baby face and I am ALWAYS thinking "that is a wierd reply for MFM" before realizing it wasn't him. Same for a few others.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

10. its me, its me,

its Ernest T. :D

yeah, I needed a change. :hi:

and btw, I go to the Dr to get my ears cleaned. My left ear canal is crooked and water pools up in it. ,

[Gidney N Cloyd]

3. What are Q-Tips good for if not used for ears?

Cleaning pinch rollers and capstans, once upon a time, but who's even got those anymore?

[RebelOne]

5. I use them for applying eye makeup. n/t

[Mugu]

8. When the voices get really annoying...

just poke them a couple of times with a Q-Tip and they quiet down.

[JonLP24]

12. Cleaning M-16s

In the Army the weapons had to be spotless and those Q-tips were great for those hard to reach spots.

[Chan790]

18. Detail cleaning work...

nothing is quite as good at cleaning in crevices.

[Swede]

4. "Never clean your ears with anything smaller than your elbow"

Wise words from a doctor.

[MiddleFingerMom]

7. These words hardly EVER go together... but this is an exception.

.
.
.
.
.
Boiling water. SuperSoaker.
.
.
.
.
.
As an Army medic, I was once part of a 3-man team who took FOREVER to gently remove the PACKED wax
from a young soldier's ears. He was Puerto Rican and his English wasn't so hot (and his embarrassment level
musta been through the roof.
.
What we FINALLY managed to dislodge was a TIGHTLY-rolled-and-crumpled cylinder of paper that looked
like it might have come from a glossy magazine page. Best we could figure, he went to a target range
without his earplugs and rolled this up to partially block the noise.
.
.
It was pretty nasty.
.
.
.

[hedgehog]

11. My husband generally had ear plugs strung from his top shirt button

or in his pockets because of his noisy work place. One of our kids put pussy willows in her ears in imitation!

[rug]

13. You could sprinkle iron filings in your ear and then hold a magnet on the side of your head.

[bluesbassman]

14. I saw Foghat at a little club in '95. Sat about twenty feet from the stage.

Haven't had to clean my ears since. :)

[givemebackmycountry]

15. I saw UFO at the Rainbow Music Hall in Denver in '81.

I could have a Glade scented candle jammed in my ears and I wouldn't know it.
"Rock Bottom, Rock Bottom, Rock bottom!"

What?

[Duer 157099]

16. I've been cleaning my ears with Q-tips for my whole life

I think I'm dependent on it by now. After a shower, I always have to use them to dry my ears out, otherwise it feels too funny. I'm fanatical about my ear wax. Years ago when having my ears examined, the doctor said they were the cleanest ears he'd ever seen, lol.

I live life on the edge.

[Rhiannon12866]

17. I do the same thing. I can't stand to have wet ears, LOL.

But I have noticed a time or two that the cotton on the end of the stick was missing. It was pretty obvious, since it was just a plain stick. But that still didn't stop me from using Q-Tips. I also use them for removing eye makeup... :hi: