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My ears occasionally get clogged with ear wax, affecting my hearing. I have attempted to clean out my ear canal with my finger or a tissue, but this is ineffective. I typically insert the loop end of a small paper clip into my ear and use it to dig out ear wax. Is this a normal or common practice among people who have clogged ears?
It's exactly what they tell you not to do, because you can puncture an eardrum. Get an ear bulb and flush them out with warm water.
I use a bobby pin usually but i know im not normal because I eat the ear wax usually
That is not wise. You risk puncturing your eardrum, injuring the ear canal and getting the paper clip stuck in your ear. If it gets stuck DO NOT attempt to pull it out yourself. If done improperly, it can result in the paper clip getting stuck further done the canal. You must seek medical assistance immediately.
My mother once got an earplug stuck in her canal and she had to go to a clinic for removal. Many years ago, at summer camp, shortly after a magician came, at the stupid insistence of his friends, a African boy got a little spherical object stuck in his ear. I think it was around the night of the same day when he complained to his parents that his ear hurt. His parents made the crucial mistake of trying to get the object out themselves which caused it to go down further in the canal. The last I heard, he had been taken to specialists who could do nothing and surgery was being considered.
Only 12% think this is normal??? I even took an entire box of small paper clips from the supply room at my office so that I can do this at home. I don't use a sharp end of the paper clip - instead, I use the loop end and am careful not to insert it too far into my ear.
I have done this before in a moment of super itchy ear weakness, but it's definitely not safe, so I cannot vote normal.
Be careful I have a punctured eardrum from cleaning out my ears with a foreign object