# Why do q-tips feel so good? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 17, 2000, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870 "2000-07-17T17:47:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870/1 "2000-07-17T17:47:07Z")
Why does it feel so good to put q-tips where you’re not supposed to? My kids love it when I clean their ears, and I feel a real calm in me when I have the q-tip down ‘in the hole.’ It’s a calm I wouldn’t have guessed would come with removing ear wax. Is there something going on? ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870/2 "2000-07-17T17:54:19Z")
A WAG? The inner ear is covered in incredibly fine hairs, called Cilla ( sp? ). You’re stroking the hairs, and oye does it feel nice. They help to transmit sound vibrations to the inner ear. ``` Cartooniverse ``` ---
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870/3 "2000-07-17T18:29:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bup \* > \*\*Why does it feel so good to put q-tips where you’re > not supposed to? > > My kids love it when I clean their ears, and I feel > a real calm in me when I have the q-tip down ‘in the > hole.’ > \*\* Do I want to answer this question and be banned? NAHHHHHHH! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Cynical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870/4 "2000-07-17T18:42:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bup \* > **I feel a real calm in me when I have the q-tip down 'in the hole.'** In the future, please use the q-tip on your ears, instead. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870/5 "2000-07-17T18:47:46Z")
> [@](#): > > Do I want to answer this question and be banned? NAHHHHHHH! OK, then let me try: It’s because you’re a **FRRAIK!!!** You’re probably just scratching an itch. I like it because it gets any water out of the ear canal… and scratches the itch. > [@](#): > > A WAG? The inner ear is covered in incredibly fine hairs, called Cilla ( sp? ). You’re stroking the hairs, and oye does it feel nice. They help to transmit sound vibrations to the inner ear. Cartooniverse, are you sure that you’re not thinking of the filaments of the auditory nerve, inside the cochlea? That’s about as far into the ear as you can go. The only reference to cilia in my household copy of Gray’s Anatomy refers to eyelashes. I believe that sound travels from the eardrum to the cochlea via the small bones; no hairs are used. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870/6 "2000-07-17T21:35:15Z")
There’s an old joke in there somewhere… Let’s see if I can remember it… How do you know that sex feels better for a woman than it does for a man? Easy… Put your finger in your ear and move it around. Which feels better, your ear or your finger? Hey, I didn’t say it was a GOOD joke, just old. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870/7 "2000-07-17T22:05:07Z")
You know when you get the swab in just the right places, and it feels **so** good, and you just melt? That’s your Q-spot. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2000, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870/8 "2000-07-17T23:53:50Z")
You’re not supposed to put them in your ear cause you may hit your ear drum or force wax into the ear. ‘The inner ear is covered in incredibly fine hairs’ Yeah, but youll never get anywhere near them. ---
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870/9 "2000-07-18T00:12:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cornflakes \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > Do I want to answer this question and be banned? NAHHHHHHH! > > OK, then let me try: It’s because you’re a **FRRAIK!!!** > \*\* But I don’t mind answering you, flakes. FRRAIK? You have been poking those Q-tips in a little too far. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870/10 "2000-07-18T01:32:44Z")
Hey, a bad Scottish accent deserves bad spelling! ---
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870/11 "2000-07-18T01:41:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cornflakes \* > \*\*Hey, a bad Scottish accent deserves bad spelling! \*\* Ye nae magalah a haggis wtf? ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870/12 "2000-07-18T02:39:59Z")
…which I hate. They have an extra bog wad of cotton at the widest point, which effectively prevents you from jamming it in good. Then a little nub that can be used to delicately swab the ear. I use them on my son, and I noticed that while he still less than 6 months old he got that really dreamy look on his face when I used them, just like my husband gets. It was touching or creepy, I still haven’t decided. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870/13 "2000-07-18T03:33:30Z")
After his annual physical, a coworker said that the nurse asked him if he cleaned his ears with a Q-tip. He swelled with pride that his hygiene was being recognized and said yes, to which she replied “Well, that explains all the wax packed up against your eardrum.” > [@](#): > > **Ye nae magalah a haggis wtf?** Sorry tcburnie, my translator software didn’t like that. Is the last word an acronym? ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870/14 "2000-07-18T03:57:02Z")
Want a real ear-canal orgasm? Squirt a little hydrogen peroxide in there for a few minutes to dissolve the old wax. First the chilly H2O2 will tingle, then it will begin to fizz – right inside your head! Ahhhhh… Most home remedies for wax clearing advise using glycerine – but that’s just wimpy-assed in my opinion. A minority suggest the above H2O2 method. I don’t know if this procedure is ultimately contraindicated, as they say, so I’d love to hear what our medical Dopers have to say on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870/15 "2000-07-18T04:01:13Z")
Oddly enough, **Cecil Adams** on [earwax removal](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_111.html). ---
**Author:** ![Niggle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Niggle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Niggle)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870/16 "2000-07-18T06:01:52Z")
LOL… You kick ass, Manda… 🙂 -niggle > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Manda JO \* > \*\*You know when you get the swab in just the right places, and it feels **so** good, and you just melt? > That’s your Q-spot. \*\* ---
**Author:** ![tcburnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@tcburnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tcburnett)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870/17 "2000-07-18T09:14:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by cornflakes \* > \*\*After his annual physical, a coworker said that the nurse asked him if he cleaned his ears with a Q-tip. He swelled with pride that his hygiene was being recognized and said yes, to which she replied “Well, that explains all the wax packed up against your eardrum.” > > > [@](#): > > > > **Ye nae magalah a haggis wtf?** > > Sorry tcburnie, my translator software didn’t like that. > Is the last word an acronym? \*\* ROFL! Sort of. W.T.F., over? ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870/18 "2000-07-18T09:20:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Why does it feel so good to put q-tips where you’re > not supposed to? Your parents were siblings, weren’t they? ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870/19 "2000-07-18T17:38:33Z")
\>\>I use them on my son, and I noticed that while he still less than 6 months old he got that really dreamy look on his face when I used them, just like my husband gets. It was touching or creepy, I still haven’t decided. Yes! The dreamy look! There’s something ‘more than the sum of the parts’ going on there, isn’t there? Little kids look hypnotized! What is that phenomenon, and what’s causing it? ---
**Author:** ![stuyguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@stuyguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stuyguy)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-q-tips-feel-so-good/25870/20 "2000-07-18T17:56:01Z")
Isn’t there a major nerve pathway in/around the ear canal. Didn’t Cecil mention something to that effect in one of his columns… or did I read it elsewhere… or am I totally full of ear wax? If it’s true, I bet that’s why it feels so good.