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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not give up using cotton ear buds?

132 replies

cowsoy · 05/02/2019 07:57

I keep hearing about how cotton buds are really bad for your ears and you shouldn't use them.

I tried to stop the other week and had to give up after a few days when I put some headphones in and the headphones had wax on when I took them out of my ear...

It then took me about 10 cotton buds to get my ears clean again.

Apparently you're just meant to let the wax naturally make its way out of your ears and drip/be pushed out... but I feel like if people look at me from a certain angle they will just see my wax-filled ear canal [sick] and I felt really dirty...

Apparently doctors say you should just wipe the outside of your ear with a flannel but I don't think its enough, people can still see the wax...

OP posts:
CookPassBabtridge · 05/02/2019 17:11

God this is one of my few pleasures in life, no way would I stop.

Fluffy40 · 05/02/2019 17:14

My mum used a hairgrip on me, 😢, no lasting damage

ScreamingValenta · 05/02/2019 17:20

OP (and some others on this thread) - if you like ear wax, this is the topic for you:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/sporner_corner

BuggerOffAndGoodDayToYou · 05/02/2019 17:39

My DS always looks like he has marmite coming out if his ears. He washes them with a facecloth in the shower but that doesn’t clean the constant ooze... GP told me to use a cotton bud once or twice per week but DS has heard the horror stories and won’t let me. It looks really gross though.....

CoperCabana · 05/02/2019 17:57

I gave myself otitis externa by using cotton buds in my ears. I wouldn’t recommend it as my ears seem to have that sloshy post shower feel most of the time now.

Princessmushroom · 05/02/2019 17:59

Hair pins.

The ones with a loop.

I’m obsessed with ear wax and this is so good to get it out AND it doesn’t push wax down AND they’re not bad for the environment. Win win.

HoraceCope · 05/02/2019 18:10

oh i used to use hairpins as a teen

i bought value cotton buds, never again, the cotton wool got left behind in my ear, terrifying

TheMammothHunters · 05/02/2019 18:24

@CoperCabana and anyone else- after I had otitis external from cotton buds I didn’t fe normal until I had microsuction to get rid of all the debris. Had that, swore off cotton buds and all ok for years now

StealingYourWiFi · 05/02/2019 18:28

I use a bobby pin hair grip thing Blush I have done for years. I was having frequent audiology tests for hearing that was at 20% about 10 years ago. The first day I tried the bobby pin was because I could feel something there, out came a huge bit of wax with a grommet inside and my hearing shot straight up. ENT couldn't believe it! All those wasted trips for an impacted grommet Grin

CoperCabana · 05/02/2019 18:31

Thanks @TheMammothHunters I was actually looking at micro suction the other day. I think I will go for it now you have said that.

Fozzleyplum · 05/02/2019 19:01

I used this on DS1's ears a few years ago. He'd had a cold and said his ear felt rattly and itchy. After a few days of putting olive oil in, I syringed them.

The offending ear did not disappoint and yielded a veritable junkyard of debris; I was half expecting to find Lord Lucan and Shergar in there. Unfortunately, his ears have been trouble free ever since.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 05/02/2019 19:14

@cowsoy - I used to be an operating theatre staff nurse, and I worked regularly in the ENT theatre. Every single ENT surgeon I worked with said that using cotton buds was very bad for people’s ears.

It can cause impacted earwax - this is agony - I got it once (no from using cotton buds), and I was crying with the pain.

They irritate the lining of your ear and can make you more prone to infections there.

Worst case, you could damage your eardrum and need major surgery if you don’t want to go deaf in that ear. I have been the scrub nurse when the surgeons were doing this and it used to involve an incision in the scalp to allow harvesting of some tissue to use, and then applying it to the perforated ear drum, in the hopes that it would,adhere and restore some of the hearing.

I wonder whether your ears produce a lot of wax because you use the cotton buds, and it is your ears’ way of trying to deal with the irritation you are causing - if this is the case, then if you stop, your production of wax might lessen as your ear canals become less irritated.

n0ne · 05/02/2019 19:31

I luuuuurve having a good broddle in my ears. Couldn't do without it. Never seem to have any wax, oddly. I get cotton buds with a wooden stick - the stick snaps sometimes so you have to be careful but they're cheaper than plastic or cardboard.

Namelesswonder · 05/02/2019 19:41

The more you clean your ears the more wax you will produce! Stop poking around and you will stop producing excessive amounts of wax.

Rainbowsandcupcakes · 05/02/2019 19:43

Best thing ever after a nice hot bath!

EggysMom · 05/02/2019 19:48

I don't use ear buds.
I am one of those whose ears produce a horrendous amount of wax, despite not using ear buds.
It doesn't exit my ear canals, maybe I'm deformed, it works its way instead to the ear-drum where it builds up and restricts my hearing.
Ear drops have no impact. I can leave them in for 20/30/60 minutes, go to clean the 'debris' and there's nothing - because it doesn't travel the right way in my ear canal, no matter how soft.
I end up having my ears syringed once a year.

Our son is the same. Ear buds have gone nowhere near his ears. He is incredibly waxy, all I can do is wipe the visible signs. And there's no hope of him lying still with ear drops, he's severely autistic and doesn't understand!

OhWotIsItThisTime · 05/02/2019 20:55

I’ve got one ds with very waxy ideas, the other doesn’t. Waxy ds gets a huge amount of was building up at the entrance to his ears - it’s very visible.

Once, when younger, non-waxy ds woke up with wax all in his bed. Gawd knows what had happened, but there was tons of it. It was like he’d got it all out of his system in one go.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 05/02/2019 20:57

Consultant surgeons specialising in the ear will ALL tell you what a bad idea using cotton buds in your ears is. They have studied for years and know far more about the ear than any of us do, and have seen the effects of cotton bud misuse and the problems is causes.

Are people honestly saying that the experts’ opinion is worth less than their own?

GoFiguire · 05/02/2019 21:03

Are people honestly saying that the experts’ opinion is worth less than their own?

Yes. Because this is how Brexit happened.

PinguDance · 05/02/2019 21:20

I also used to work in an ent practice and I am fully briefed on the evils of cotton buds - BUT IT FEELS SO GOOD. I don’t keep them in the house cos I think I’d go mad with them otherwise but if I’m ever at someone’s house with cotton buds I treat my self to an ear poke.

Bubastes · 05/02/2019 21:29

I just can't break my eargasm habit.

Oblomov19 · 05/02/2019 21:34

I don't seem to make any ear wax. My cotton buds are always always clean. I don't think I've ever had a dirty one. I've never had hearing problems. I have no idea what's wrong. But I'm quite addicted to using them.
Wierd.

melj1213 · 05/02/2019 21:36

As a child I used to suffer from a lot of ENT issues - regularly had glue ear/ear infections/impacted wax/grommets etc and my ears were awful - the wax was like treacle as it was so wet and dense. My mother used to listen to the ENT doctors about putting nothing in my ears and would never let me use cotton buds or hair grips, just a wet washcloth/cotton wool to wipe around the outer ear when wax finally oozed out.

As a teenager I started to use cotton buds to clean my ears and since then I have never had issues with them, the only exception being bursting my ear drum once (due to flying when I had a really heavy cold and I just couldn't equalise the pressure and it was agony until it finally burst) and a couple of times where I've had a really bad cold that spread to my ears and sinuses.

I don't push the cotton buds deep into my ear, or be generally forceful, I just swirl the bud gently a few mm into the ear canal and that is usually enough to get rid of any wet wax that is making my ear itch or to dry it after a shower.

ItsNiceItsDifferentItsUnusual · 05/02/2019 21:41

@Puzzledandpissedoff I don't think anyone's answered you and I understand how desperate you must be feeling - I had a perforated eardrum years ago and it was utter agony. It felt like it would never get better but actually, had healed within 2 weeks. That was with an infection, too. The first week is awful, second week much better.

Level11 · 05/02/2019 21:49

I've always used them. I haven't got waxy ears at all, I just enjoy how it feels. Occasionally there might be a bit of wax but hardly ever.

DP on the other hand could grow potatoes in his ears if he didn't clean them once a week - he can get through a dozen cotton buds pulling the stuff out, it's horribly fascinating.

You won't find plastic ones any more btw - Johnsons stopped making them some time ago, now all brands manufacture the cardboard ones.