For example, if you insist on buying Advil instead of store brand ibuprofen. I mean, you’d be wasting your money in that example, but you do you

  • jeffw@lemmy.worldOP
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    59
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    1 year ago

    Mine is Q-tips…. Let’s just say you shouldn’t put a flimsy cotton stick in your ear unless you trust it’ll come out in one piece

        • DrRatso@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          9
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          You might not notice them, but id say theres a good chance you have wax plugs built up in your ears from using QTips (and inear headphones if you use them).

          • kase@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            1 year ago

            Wait, my headphones do this too?? Why is this the first time I’m hearing this? I thought I was being so responsible by not using a q tip on my ears like once a week, but all this time I’ve still been shoving those bluetooth earbuds in on the daily. Sleeping with them sometimes. I feel like an idiot. What else am I doing wrong?

            …Also, what type of headphones do you use, if you don’t mind me asking? :')

            • DrRatso@lemmy.ml
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              2
              ·
              1 year ago

              I never really liked the in-ear feel, I also dislike bluetooth, so my go to for moving is Koss PortaPro, these are very open so no real isolation, however. For bluetooth the staple overear is WM1000xm4, though I have no experience.

        • PM_ME_VINTAGE_30S [he/him]@lemmy.sdf.org
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          1 year ago

          I’m glad it’s worked out for you so far, but you really should stop. Your ears probably don’t need to be cleaned at all. You could end up damaging your ears at worst, and at best you’re just pushing ear wax deeper into your ears, possibly creating a clog that might not have happened otherwise.

          Anecdotally, I stopped cleaning my ears 15-20 years ago, and not once have I had ears clogged due to earwax.

          • dingus@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            edit-2
            1 year ago

            That’s not at all true for everyone. My ears 1000% need to be cleaned, unfortunately. My ears will periodically get physically clogged with wax and it will both impair my hearing and feel gross/uncomfortable. My brothers all have this issue as well, so maybe I am just genetically predisposed to create too much earwax or something.

            I don’t use a Q tip though. That can’t at all unclog a wax impaction. Instead, I use something called an “ear syringe” (there’s no needle don’t worry lol). You fill it with water from the sink and squirt it into your ear. Cheap, reusable, and will get rid of wax clogs. You can pick one up cheap at any drug store.

            https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQVQHw1p44hsPMJlLirbn6ukvKPfbs_FY8nzQ&usqp=CAU

            The wax impactions could be from things like in ear headphones, but I very rarely use in ears to begin with. It will happen even during long periods of not using them.

            It’s really easy and quick to use, and creates minimal mess. Whenever I start to feel a clog coming on, I just use it for a few minutes over the sink and I’m good to go. I’d highly recommend it to anyone with wax issues. The chemical wax softeners like Debrox (or even hydrogen peroxide) cost too much and are really not very effective compared to simple mechanical removal.

    • Obinice@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      You shouldn’t put cotton buds in your ears at all, honestly I don’t know how an industry managed to trick so many people into doing something so potentially hazardous.