To continue using cotton buds in my ears

[bumblenbean]

.. when the expert view is that it’s a pretty bad idea? I cannot seem to stop this rather unsavoury daily habit. I don’t do it to shift earwax, but simply because the sensation of twirling a cotton bud in the inner ear feels so good! I’ve heard it described as an eargasm (!) - I wouldn’t go that far but it is very satisfying especially if there’s a minor itch in the ear ...

AIBU to carry on regardless, since i’ve never had any untoward incidents? Admittedly I did have a minor crisis once when the cotton came away inside my ear and DH had to perform an extraction with a pair of tweezers... but that was due to a rather too vigorous twirling action which has since been modified

DH thinks I’m mad to keep doing it and appears to think I’ll end up piercing my eardrum or something else rather dramatic. Surely someone else out there indulges in this despite knowing it’s probably a bad idea?! Or do I need to go cold turkey?

And does anyone have any other inadvisable yet oddly compulsive habits they can share?

I've always done this with no ill effects
Top tip: tease the end of the bud into a point with your teeth then insert and wiggle, multiple multiple eargasms
Never had an infection or hurt myself doing this

Op I have exactly the same craving for the sensation and am not sure what I will do when they go 😱

I don't feel my getting clean and ready for the day is complete without a little earbud twirl. Always v careful not to go deep; I think it's like an itch to scratch. Sometimes makes me cough too.

Also, printmakers (etchings etc) use them loads; I'm not sure what I'll do there either.

But I do agree regarding the plastic thing.

This is really rank but my mum used to use a kirby grip to clean my ears out.
I would never do anything so gross. ..... honest

... oddly though I barely ever have any wax. It's the sensation!

I'm addicted to cotton buds and even buy the pound shop ones as they are smaller and go further in. I know I shouldn't use them so much (sometimes 3x a day - when I get up, after a morning shower then after an evening shower) and I try not to use them so often but I can't help it.

YANBU. I love a good brainscratch. Better still is a session with an ear syringe (got mine from Amazon) after a week of putting olive oil in your ear to get everything nicely softened up.

I’ve been deep-cleaning my lugholes at least twice a day for at least 20 years. I cannot abide an icky-feeling earhole.

Never had any ear issues.

@shamelessejaculate What elelse am I meant to do when I wake up at four in the morning with really liquidy ear wax filling my ear. It literally feels like I have just been in the shower or swimming. A quick rub around with an ear bud and back to sleep I go.
If I didn't have the ability to use an ear bud, I would be awake two and a half hours before the alarm and that would be a really bad thing in terms of my mental and physical health.

Nice justification there, I'll have to remember that one, but DP is as bad as me, so not much need.

Has anyone here been for an Hopi ear candle?

For those of you who don't use cotton buds, how do you cope with the feeling of waxy full ears? washing the outer with a flannel doesn't get rid of the need to unclog.

Sorry, what?

I use them, not right happy Johnson's have changed them, I have sinus problems and put Vick up my nose before bed, you aren't supposed do do that either.

My ds gets blackheads in his ears, anyone know how to get rid of them? I don't use earbuds on him so maybe I should? Conditioner might be getting the pores clogged up?

@Eliza9917 Hopi ears candles are lovely. I love unrolling the candle and seeing the wax that's gathered inside 😍😍

I get you OP! I feel the same, still use a cotton bud.

I now feel totally vindicated in my bud obsession. Thank you great people of mumsnet!!

The few mishaps that have been suffered by those on here do sound pretty nasty, but I think on a risk/benefit analysis I may have to continue!

And yes, always in the bin never flushed

I use one of these. Sooooo satisfying! I wouldn't dare tell my GP.

I don't understand how you can use a cotton bud, does it not just push the wax further in?

This video. Watch with the sound on for the full narration

m.youtube.com/watch?v=e-21TIyo0Ps

bananafish81 that video needs a KLAXON!!!

I had to get my ears syringed once. I'd gone almost completely deaf. The nurse said she'd never taken so much wax out before. It was quite difficult to control myself while she was doing it. Woof!

Dd2 has excessively waxy ears because they're so hairy. She gets massive lumps fall out all the time. She had to go for about four or five hearing tests as a baby because they thought she was deaf. The audiologist prescribed sodium bicarbonate drops and they are extremely effective. Highly recommend.

I do. I'm careful to do more of a scrape so it doesn't push the wax in and I normally warm the bud with hot water first to soften the wax.

I can feel it in my earsotherwise and it drives me crazy. I haven't had an ear infection since I was a e
Child.

I actually save my cotton bud times up so they're more (ahem) productive. If I used them everyday nothing would come out so it's twice a week max now for me which is much more satisfying.

My dad would use a toothpick or the wood end of a matchstick.

I am also in the club. Soooooo good!

Oh god, the satisfaction of a good rummage in the ear with a cotton bud. Lush. I too only allow myself to do it 2 or 3 times a week otherwise it just isn't as good. No ear infections since I was a kid. Feels dirty and itchy if I don't do it.
DP loves it too, does it daily, and here's the important part of this info- he's a doctor, so clearly that means it's ok!! [Grin]

Oops.

This is so weird...people who have given themselves infections, damaged their hearing and made their ears bleed from poking cotton buds into them - then said "I'm not going to stop!!"

This "itchy, full feeling" you get from your ears - ever think that it might be because you're irritating your ear canal by sticking something down it every day?

Full disclisure: I have never put a cotton bud down my ear and I can't see why I ever would - any more than I would use a vaginal douche or clean up inside my arse with a bottle brush