# why does it feel so good to clean your ears **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 23, 2007, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-so-good-to-clean-your-ears/397138 "2007-03-23T05:36:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stefanieh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dec6dc/32.png) [@stefanieh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stefanieh)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-so-good-to-clean-your-ears/397138/1 "2007-03-23T05:36:23Z")
Well, I guess you don’t have to technically be all up in there with a Q-tip, you could use a bobbypin or something…anyway…why does it feel so good to stick stuff inside your ears? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-so-good-to-clean-your-ears/397138/2 "2007-03-23T05:39:43Z")
Ahh, the [eargasm.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=35703&highlight=eargasm) ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-so-good-to-clean-your-ears/397138/3 "2007-03-23T05:40:17Z")
It’s all fun until you puncture an eardrum. ---
**Author:** ![Vision\_of\_Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Vision\_of\_Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vision_of_Love)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-so-good-to-clean-your-ears/397138/4 "2007-03-23T06:22:42Z")
[QUOTE=Happy Lendervedder] Ahh, the [eargasm.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=35703&highlight=eargasm) [/QUOTE] What a fun thread. I’ve always gotten the eargasms, and yes, I get better results doing it after a shower and with 100% cotton tips. I never thought for even a moment that it was unusual. My whole family cleaned their ears this way, and they always looked like it felt good to them. Also, I remember being told that as a baby, my grandma would coax me to sleep by twisting a Q-tip into my ear. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-so-good-to-clean-your-ears/397138/5 "2007-03-23T07:50:12Z")
I dont know, but it’s that very reason why I enjoy having my dog lick my ears. If I had to WAG, I’d say it has something to do with a possible higher concentration of nerves in the ear versus say, the elbow. ---
**Author:** ![uglyduckling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e99b99/32.png) [@uglyduckling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglyduckling)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-so-good-to-clean-your-ears/397138/6 "2007-03-23T08:03:34Z")
I think everyone enjoys the sensation of cleaning out the ears, It almost feels so good you feel like your hitting a happy spot, Just like on a dog you feel like moving your leg and scratching win you hit that spot. But my advice is nor q-tips it just jams the wax right back down, you need to use a bobby pin or paper clip. And of course no matter how good it feels don’t go too far, you can perferoate your eardrum. Have your doctor clean your ears ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-so-good-to-clean-your-ears/397138/7 "2007-03-23T08:33:05Z")
Related topic - perhaps a poll or something similar, but just how many of us Teeming Millions use the cotton swabs in only the prescribed manner? Or to put it a different way - how many of us ignore the safety warnings that are on all the packages: Do not insert swab into ear canal? I know I do. And I do so enjoy the feeling of cleaning out my ear. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-so-good-to-clean-your-ears/397138/8 "2007-03-23T09:11:07Z")
I read that in India there are street vendors who will clean your ears on the spot for a small amount of money. They are very popular and that’s how they earn a living. ---
**Author:** ![indierock82](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f14d63/32.png) [@indierock82](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/indierock82)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-so-good-to-clean-your-ears/397138/9 "2007-03-23T09:25:36Z")
I, too, enjoy the eargasm on a regular basis. However, not everybody enjoys them: my girlfriend (who is the first person I’ve ever met that disliked said ritual) despises the q-tip, and only uses them when she absolutely has to, or she uses it for makeup removal. She claims that it just hurts to shove a q-tip in hear ear canal. ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-feel-so-good-to-clean-your-ears/397138/10 "2007-03-23T10:48:39Z")
Putting anything in my ears makes me cringe… I hate cleaning out my ears. I prefer doing it in the shower to mask the sensation of the cotton-bud (Q-tip) with water.