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An AirPod is smaller than even a newborn's elbow. By the standard you cite, we should never use those! But if we're going to anyway, it behooves us to consider
by throwanem 5y ago
An AirPod is smaller than even a newborn's elbow. By the standard you cite, we should never use those! But if we're going to anyway, it behooves us to consider what problems that may cause, and figure out how to deal with them before they ramify.
- oblio 5y agoIt depends on how far you're pushing it. An AirPod probably doesn't go anywhere near the actual eardrum.
- throwanem 5y agoCertainly not; the AirPod is designed to be impossible to push that far. But it does, like anything that occludes the meatus, go far enough to stop wax draining. In general, all our holes are there for a reason, and blocking them up for long periods is rarely if ever well advised. But in this age we also suffer the siren song of podcasts, and it is therefore incumbent upon us to either deal with the problems we thus make ourselves, or go to urgent care and get our ears hosed out with warm saline.
- oblio 5y agoI think some ORL specialists can "vacuum" your ears. From what I hear it's far less intrusive than other options.
- throwanem 5y agoI'd be nervous about negative pressure and its effect on the eardrum, but I suppose a professional knows how to avoid any problem that could cause. That said, far preferable to avoid the need for professional intervention in the first place, I'd argue. (And have!)
- ValentineC 5y agoFrom personal experience with multiple cases of impacted earwax, dripping a bit of olive oil to soften the earwax is probably the least intrusive. One can follow up with a bit of 3% hydrogen peroxide one day after. The bubbling causes the impacted earwax to break up mechanically.