I'm mortified

Yes!!!! It used to be said by medics and the like that you should never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear. The wax works its way out naturally stop poking your ears!!!

Every time you poke a cotton bud in your ear you are compressing the wax.
Might be worth a visit to the docs to see if you need them syringing as your hearing is deteriorating. This is painless and done by the practise nurse.

I've known about it for years, but I'm quite obsessed with poking my ears out.
(And quite deaf, too)

Me too!! If you want to avoid wax build-up, put a couple of drops of olive oil in your ears once a week

Yes olive oil drops were recommended by one of the friends so that's top of my shopping list this week!

It has been well known and talked about for years Carol although I have to admit I do occasionally do it but you certainly shouldn’t

Well how were you to know. It’s not something that generally comes up in conversation.

I'm sure it's not serious enough to be "mortified" and "frantically searching Google".
It's ear wax .

I've cleaned my ears everyday with cotton buds and have never had a problem, I think it's just the PC Brigade making mountains out of mole hills again.

We were always told never to put anything smaller than your elbow in your ears !

poppyred every time you put a cotton bud in your ear it pushes some of the wax further down and this can then build up and cause problems. Also, if you do it everyday then you are effectively preventing your ears from cleaning themselves - which is what they are designed to do.

"Earol" is good - oil spray that you can regularly use if you have a build-up of wax.

Good name for it!

Wild swan I'm 62 years old and have never had a problem so far! Too many people telling you what NOT to do these days, use your own common sense. Simples

I’ve always has a problem with earwax build-up- inherited from my mother I think. Never used cotton buds as heard they could make ears worse. I once had them syringed at docs and then decided on diy job with old icing syringe! Probably not recommended, but works for me.

I fill basin with warm water, then fill syringe with fairly small nozzle on end and squirt into ear, holding head over basin. Have to do a few times each side before I’m rewarded by blobs of very dark, quite firm, wax appearing in basin!

Sometimes I have to repeat a few times over an evening, but then I can hear everything crystal clearly again.

Sound clinical advice here.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/earwax-build-up/

poppyred I’m not sure that the question of whether or not you should stick things into your ears has anything to do with political correctness

Really? What I'm trying to say is listen to your own inner common sense, there is nothing wrong in using cotton buds sensibly like most people do. Don't take everything that other people tell you as gospel, don't do this and don't even think of doing that! Seems to be the norm these days and I call that political correctness or lefty lunacy.

But why is advising people not to stick things in their ears left-wing?

They seem to be the main culprits that's why!

This thread is becoming is becoming more than hilarious. The OP has been given good advice based on proven medical evidence. As for PC propaganda regarding ear wax, well I wasn't aware that it was an issue?

Mortified! A huge no no and frantically searching google about something you've been doing for years is Hysterical wink wink

What function are cotton buds designed for?
I've known that we are currently advised not to use them in ears.
Why were cotton buds manufactured to begin with?

I have in the past used a product called "Audiclean". It us basically a salt water spray, and keeps my ears from itching .

It's beyond me how anyone can tell a persons political leanings from their views on ear wax.

They are quite good for applying glue though. (not in your ears, obv)