2 ms·

Yeah, and with the q-tips, it seems trival to do it safely. For some reason, be aware or careful always gets compressed to avoidance

lokar 2mo ago
YouTube has some pretty awful videos of ear canals full of cotton fibers. Touching the eardrum is not the only risk.
- sublinear 2mo ago
  And you think YouTube represents the average user of q-tips? Even when YouTube has videos uploaded by doctors having to put up with this kind of stupidity, it doesn't change the fact that hardly anyone does that. The vast majority of stuff uploaded to YouTube isn't even that. It's losers trying to get views.
- AngryData 2mo ago
  I mean it is pretty easy to find all sorts of people misusing or poorly using common hygiene products. Everyone I know uses q-tip in their ears and none have ever had a problem with it. To me it would be like not using toilet paper because some people aren't smart enough to not scour their ass raw.
- genewitch 2mo ago
  i've been cleaning the insides of my ears since before my mom said "nothing smaller than your elbow in your ears" and "nothing smaller than a fencepost;" and my PCP looks in my ears 4+ times a year and has never said anything - either way, do or don't or gross or nice.
georgemcbay 2mo ago
> For some reason, be aware or careful always gets compressed to avoidance The reason is legal liability, generally. If you sell Q-Tips and tell people to be careful when sticking them in their ears you're likely to be held legally liable when someone isn't careful because there will be infinite wiggle room for them to claim you didn't specify the safe use clearly enough. If you sell Q-Tips and tell people not to put them in their ear (even though you know that's why most people are buying them) then when someone sues you for messing up their ear you can tap the words on the box and say "well, we told you not to do that".
alt227 2mo ago
There is never any reason to put q-tips in your ear. Ear drops are infinitely better.

lokar 2mo ago

YouTube has some pretty awful videos of ear canals full of cotton fibers. Touching the eardrum is not the only risk.

sublinear 2mo ago
And you think YouTube represents the average user of q-tips? Even when YouTube has videos uploaded by doctors having to put up with this kind of stupidity, it doesn't change the fact that hardly anyone does that. The vast majority of stuff uploaded to YouTube isn't even that. It's losers trying to get views.
AngryData 2mo ago
I mean it is pretty easy to find all sorts of people misusing or poorly using common hygiene products. Everyone I know uses q-tip in their ears and none have ever had a problem with it. To me it would be like not using toilet paper because some people aren't smart enough to not scour their ass raw.
genewitch 2mo ago
i've been cleaning the insides of my ears since before my mom said "nothing smaller than your elbow in your ears" and "nothing smaller than a fencepost;" and my PCP looks in my ears 4+ times a year and has never said anything - either way, do or don't or gross or nice.

georgemcbay 2mo ago

> For some reason, be aware or careful always gets compressed to avoidance The reason is legal liability, generally. If you sell Q-Tips and tell people to be careful when sticking them in their ears you're likely to be held legally liable when someone isn't careful because there will be infinite wiggle room for them to claim you didn't specify the safe use clearly enough. If you sell Q-Tips and tell people not to put them in their ear (even though you know that's why most people are buying them) then when someone sues you for messing up their ear you can tap the words on the box and say "well, we told you not to do that".

alt227 2mo ago

There is never any reason to put q-tips in your ear. Ear drops are infinitely better.