In Japan they are called ‘mimi kakki’ - they are usually bamboo or plastic, never seen a metal one. It seems to be standard issue for most people. In the offices many guys have one in their pencil holders - you have no idea how repulsive it is to borrow a pencil only to discover it is a mimi kakki. Mothers use them to clean their children’s ears and barbers use them on their customers as part of the hair cutting service. I haven’t heard of any more incidences of perforated ear drums than in the West - but could be. I bought one for my dad who get wax build up, and he loves it. They are way better than cotton buds as you can scoop out the goop better.
I’ve also noted that Japanese have hard ear wax, whilst westerners tend to have soft ear wax - why the difference? I’m assuming diet must play a part? Why do some people have more wax build up than others?
Wow, you could have been part of the scientific team that recently located the gene that makes Asians have tend to have dry ear wax while Europeans tend to have wet ear wax.
Thanks Shagnasty - that was a very interesting article. So I wonder if those with soft earwax have more problems than those with dry?
From the article:
“They write that earwax type and armpit odor are correlated, since populations with dry earwax, such as those of East Asia, tend to sweat less and have little or no body odor, whereas the wet earwax populations of Africa and Europe sweat more and so may have greater body odor. Several Asian features, such as small nostrils and the fold of fat above the eyelid, are conjectured to be adaptations to the cold. Less sweating, the Japanese authors suggest, may be another adaptation to the cold climate in which the ancestors of East Asian peoples are thought to have lived.”
For those of you with wax build up issues - are you particularly smelly too?
I use a bobby pin to gently scrape the wax out of my ears. I wouldn’t advise anyone else to do this, as I am not a doctor or other medical professional…but I certainly do get a lot of ear wax out using a trusty old bobby pin. It’s not sharp or pointed, and the loop is just right for removing the wax. I find that using cotton swabs tends to pack the wax in more firmly, rather than removing the excess.
I’ve always used Q-tips, but very carefully. Instead of pushing down and impacting the wax I twirl the cotton so it dosen’t push the wax down.
Ususally get a bunch too!
Listen to a professional, use a Super Soaker!
(Note: I am not the professional, the guy who wrote the article is.)
While I have never used the Super Soaker, I think any of these methods is really helped by having someone else do the squirting. Really hard to see your own ear.
I use OTC drops called Cerumol for a few nights and then an earbulb in the shower as others have described. Q-tips, aside from possible danger, seem to just push the wax against the ear. But the Cerumol seems to soften the wax enough.
But a year ago I discovered a new remedy. I love to swim/float on my back in the ocean. Last year, after my ears had been underwater for a half hour or so, I noticed this soft brown gunk coming out of my ears. Gross, but it was just soft, almost liquid, earwax. Of course, you need a place with a very low surf. Barbados on the west coast is ideal (for earwax and relaxation).
“Blort” - you have a gift for expression that is gratifying. You should write for Mad Magazine. 
So, would health insurance cover a therapy like that?
The evil! The evil came out!
I applied the cerumen again, and then went at my ears with the bulby thing for what felt like forever. I then began to see some little brown flecks fall in the sink, so I kept going, and all of a sudden this pulpy brown blob the size of a dime plopped into the sink. Ewwwww! But I can now hear again. Thanks for the tips!
A Canadian dime you must mean, right? (Do you guys even call them dimes?)
Yes.
Yes. 
I too have suffered from this in the past, I usually have to go to the doctor’s every 18 months or so. Usually the process involves a manually operated syringe filled with what I think is just regular warm water (they ask you to use ear drops for a few days before the appointment to loosen the wax). However, last time I went the nurse used a machine that required mains power, the most disturbing part of the process was having to sign a waiver stating that I couldn’t sue if the machine damaged my ear drum. I have no idea what the machine is called but the best it worked by firing pulses of ‘water’ at high speed into the ear rather than a steady stream, sort of like a pnuematic drill.
I still don’t understand why the switch was necessary, the old method worked fine with no risk (or at least no waiver), so why switch to a machine that is known to have a chance of damaging the ears and gave my ears such a beating I lost my balance and couldn’t stand up for 5 minutes afterwards?
It’s blunt. :dubious: Would it make you feel better if I told you they also come in plastic?
Also, the ones I’ve seen have a sort of pacifier shape to prevent you from delving too deeply. Quite safe.
Also, the ones I’ve seen have a sort of pacifier shape to prevent you from delving too deeply. Quite safe.
I had no idea about the dry vs. wet ear wax. Utterly fascinating! I don’t think these Chinese scoop things would be very good for the European and African genetic set.
I am rather intrigued by the whole wax build-up issue. I’ve never had a problem with excess, yet my daughter seems to need frequently clearing out, and the result is brownish. Mine is never anything but fainly yellow–and very, very rarely is anything that would even begin to be described as a glob.
Scooping works fine with wet wax.
Well, so far so good today. But ohhhh my poor ears are so sensitive from the water-rape. It’s about -20 outside today, and I was fine while outside, but as soon as I got into the warmth they ached something terrible.
But! I can hear!
I’ve never had any luck getting it out on my own, so every once in a while, I end up at a doctor’s office so they can get it out.
Sometimes I’ve had the water treatments – once I had that, but it didn’t work, and they ended up digging in there anyway and finally got it out. I have stubborn wax.
I hate having my ears messed with, but the relief of being able to hear again is worth it.