# Why Is Earwax So Bitter? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 6, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557 "2004-04-06T15:11:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/21 "2004-04-06T20:30:05Z")
> [@](#): > > **Why Is Earwax So Bitter?** Why, because the _boogers_ are the popular ones! ---
**Author:** ![YWalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/6f9a4e/32.png) [@YWalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YWalker)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/22 "2004-04-09T03:38:25Z")
> [@Rodd Hill](#): > > Why, because the _boogers_ are the popular ones! Especially with [this guy.](http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_903083.html?menu=) ---
**Author:** ![Tir\_Tinuviel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tir\_Tinuviel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tir_Tinuviel)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/23 "2004-04-09T12:56:56Z")
> [@Little Brøther](#): > > P.S.: _Your_ earwax, or the _cat’s_ own earwax? Oh they go mad for both. Plus you get the bonus of the look of sheer bliss when you wiggle your knuckle in the kitties ear. Cat’s have eargasms too! 🙂 Maybe it’s part of the grooming ritual. They rub their ears with their paws, then lick the paws clean, maybe they keep repeating this until they can no longer smell/taste the ear wax. So maybe that’s why ear wax smells/tastes foul, and giving a cat a big glob of it causes them to go into cleaning overdrive? Or maybe all that stuff just tastes nasty, but we’re so used to smelling our own boogers that they don’t taste too bad to us? I’m thinking about this too much… ---
**Author:** ![sunfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sunfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunfish)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/24 "2004-04-09T13:33:42Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > An icky question-how much ear wax is too much? Because the insides of my ears get REALLY itchy, to the point I have to scratch-and then I get an entire q-tip coated with the stuff. > > I tried the Debrox or whatever once, but that just made it worse. Any advice other than having my ears flushed every so often? Do you not clean your ears on a regular basis, then? I do mine every day or two, so no problems with build-up, plus it feels good to be clean after. [sub]Where’s that thread about Q-Tips and eargasms? 😃 [/sub] ---
**Author:** ![ummm.yeahh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9bcb4/32.png) [@ummm.yeahh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ummm.yeahh)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/25 "2004-04-09T14:10:32Z")
> [@fervour](#): > > I found my cats liked earwax too. I first discovered this years ago with a curious cat. She came over and gave me a what-are-you-doing look. So I showed her the wax from my ears, and to my surprise she gobbled it down then. > > Since then, it’s been like an experiment for me. I meet a new cat and offer it earwax. A few times, the cat’s have been like “eww that’s gross”, but I usually continue to offer ( sorta like “try it–go ahead just try it”). They usually do and give me “WOW! this stuff is great! Where’d you get it” sort of behaviour. The vast majority of cats need no prompting at all. > > (I have nothing to add about the OP. Sorry) Earwax is like crack to my cat. It just amazes me. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2004, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557/26 "2004-04-09T14:36:29Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I tried the Debrox or whatever once, but that just made it worse. Any advice other than having my ears flushed every so often? You can use mineral oil (get it at the drugstore) to clean your ears. Plop a drop or two down your ear canal and massage a bit. It helps, especially if you can get the stuff to flush out! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-earwax-so-bitter/238557.md?page=1)