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submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by yogi_pogi@lemmy.world to c/til@lemmy.world

the type of earwax you have comes down in part to your skin type, Dr. Shapiro explains. People with oilier skin may have wet earwax, while those with drier skin tend to have dry earwax, she says.

People of East Asian descent are more likely to have dry earwax, while wet earwax seems to be more common with everyone else

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[-] njm1314@lemmy.world 73 points 2 weeks ago

"Earwax is one of those things that you probably think about for around 0.2 seconds every other month, if that."

Article lost all credibility in the first sentence.

[-] Frozengyro@lemmy.world 30 points 2 weeks ago

Yea, if I'm not cleaning out my ears once it twice a week, I'm getting a blockage.

[-] NaoPb@eviltoast.org 1 points 1 week ago

Need to unclog the traffic jams from the tunnels every once in a while.

[-] Frozengyro@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Get the lead out

[-] seathru@lemmy.sdf.org 32 points 2 weeks ago

“The only safe way to clean wax from the ear canal at home is with earwax drops,” Dr. Tweel says. That means applying a few drops of something like baby oil, mineral oil, glycerin, or hydrogen peroxide in your ear canal and letting it sit for a day or two

That's one way to spend your weekend.

[-] JayDee@lemmy.ml 12 points 2 weeks ago

I'll continue to live dangerously via Q-tips. Been doing it since I was a child, and no doctor's told me I've irreparably damaged my ears yet.

[-] xlash123@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 week ago

The trick with Q-tips is to not go far. I mainly use it to clean the initial part of my ear and only rubbing it in a circular manner to prevent cramming anything in there. If I find myself the need to go deeper, I will use eardrops.

[-] lone_faerie@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 2 weeks ago

The best discovery in my life is something called the Elephant Ear. It's a squirt bottle for getting water behind your earwax and pushing it out from the back

[-] zer0squar3d@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 2 weeks ago

Hydrogen peroxide dissolves it, when the bubbling stops it's done.

[-] Chev@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

This seems to be a plant... Can you provide a link or something?

[-] lone_faerie@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 week ago

As a kid, I had really bad earwax and had to go to the doctor because it was affecting my hearing. They used this and it was life changing.

https://www.amazon.com/Elephant-Washer-Bottle-Doctor-Easy/dp/B005M2B5P0

[-] Dasus@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

That was done to me and it sounds worse than it is.

For me it was using eardrops and then putting earplugs on and sleeping the night. The next day the school nurse (this was >20 years ago) flushed my ears. Felt orgasmic afterwards, could actually hear properly. After that I learned how to wash my own ears — inside and out.

[-] i_am_not_a_robot@feddit.uk 30 points 2 weeks ago

Apparently this is the one thing which is controlled by a single gene, and works as you were taught in school with dominant and recessive traits.

Nothing else does, including the things you were taught like eye and hair colour - they are much more complicated.

[-] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 18 points 2 weeks ago

I'm going to doubt the single gene hypothesis. I have dry ear wax in one ear and wet in the other.

[-] Communist@lemmy.ml 22 points 2 weeks ago

Is there any chance you're a chimera?

[-] i_am_not_a_robot@feddit.uk 10 points 2 weeks ago

Hmm, maybe it's one per ear?!

[-] tiredofsametab@kbin.run 5 points 2 weeks ago

Do you notice that the amount and/or scent of your perspiration is different comparing the two sides of your body?

[-] ulterno@lemmy.kde.social 1 points 2 weeks ago

Did you wash one ear and not the other?
Or did you sleep on one side on a sweaty night?

[-] DarkNightoftheSoul@mander.xyz 14 points 2 weeks ago
[-] wjrii@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Something (maybe Alexandrite") borked the link for me. If anyone else has the same issue, here you go:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaqQJj24yCY_bDQ35jS0Gvw

And yeah, that's nasty. I had to get my earwax flushed out once. It was unpleasant and super gross, and I've used the specialized peroxide solutions a couple of times in the years since. My wife has the dry wax gene, and finds wet wax both gross and confusing.

The only thing I'll add is that having used a cheap camera earwax cleaner, the magnification makes every normal little waxbooger look like a Star Trek brain slug, so while still dramatic (don't get me wrong), the videos always look just a touch more dramatic than they really are.

[-] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 weeks ago

I had to get my earwax flushed out once.

Like, with a warm water jet by a nurse?

It's ooky but it certainly works.

[-] wjrii@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

Yup. Big-ass syringe full of warm water, possibly with some solution in it (I don't recall that part). It was affecting my hearing in one ear, and the flush fixed it right up.

[-] Zerlyna@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago
[-] DarkNightoftheSoul@mander.xyz 1 points 2 weeks ago

What's the matter, Zerlyna? Did I post the wrong link?

[-] Zerlyna@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

🤣 TIL too much lol. Never seen that much come out of an ear before!!

[-] DarkNightoftheSoul@mander.xyz 2 points 2 weeks ago

I should have included a trigger warning 🤣

[-] yum@lemmy.eco.br 1 points 2 weeks ago

I think it's just really impressive to see that much ear wax coming out of someone's ear. I honestly had no clue

[-] ebits21@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 weeks ago

I’m an Audiologist. Love it when you get one of these. ;)

[-] Lemming421@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

My god, that’s glorious

[-] Avialle@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago

If you are the wet type you may reconsider buying expensive in-ears. The chance to ruin them quite fast is not that low.

[-] k110111@feddit.de 8 points 2 weeks ago

I remember reading a fact that the same gene that leads to dry earwax also leads to higher likelihood of big boobs

[-] Wiz@midwest.social 5 points 2 weeks ago

[subscribe to newsletter]

[-] z00s@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago

Which tastes better?

[-] MapleEngineer@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

I have the ABCC11 gene. I have dry ear wax and no body odor.

[-] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

Multiple types of saliva too

[-] cosmicrookie@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago

Eew.. Dry saliva sounds way more unpleasant than dry earwax

[-] HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

If you've ever been working out too hard and you want to spit but your saliva won't, that's that saliva. It sucks.

[-] NaoPb@eviltoast.org 3 points 1 week ago

I use a cotton swab when it becomes itchy or I can feel and hear it moving.

[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 1 points 1 week ago

Just like boogers!

this post was submitted on 18 May 2024
163 points (95.5% liked)

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