It's for the ears - THE EARS!
Outside of a toothbrush, I think the one thing I use more than anything in the bathroom is Q-Tips. Q-Tips rock, truth is for me Q-Tips rank above the toothbrush. I have a box of Q-Tips in every bathroom, take them on every trip, use them everyday. For what? .. come on.. don't be ridiculous - I use them to forage through my ear canal for wax. Nothing is grosser then talking to some dude and noticing he has ear wax - I'm always like "dude .. want to borrow some QTips? I have 8 on me and can spare 2".
It cracks me up that every person who has any sense of personal hygiene uses QTips as a tool to explore/extract ear wax but the makers of QTips won't list it as a possible use. They list the following possible uses: dusting picture frames, paintbrush for children with small hands, clean around your newborn's umbilical cord .. and it goes on/on carefully avoiding the word "ear". There is even a warning on the side of all QTip cartons to NOT use to clean ears. I get the whole "litigation protection" reason for not pointing out the main use (EARS) for QTips - but, come on, we buy them for the ears.
I must admit though that one morning I was rushing around very late and had left a QTip in my ear (typically I clean my ears and teeth at the same time, avoiding contact between a waxy Qtip and toothbrush obviously) - anyway, i was getting dressed and pulled my Tshirt over my head semi lodging the QTip in my ear - I instinctively smacked my ear thinking some bug had landed there and screamed out in pain as I unknowingly slammed the QTip further into my ear. When i finally dislodged the QTip it was full of wax (score!) and blood (Doh!). Anyway - point of telling you this is I can hear fine today - yes it was painful and yes hearing was a bit difficult for a few weeks but I recovered. So .. QTip away my friends .. QTip away.
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Grace would agree with you 100% but I cannot stand the feeling/sound of that scratchy thing in my ear.
Ok, I understand the digging for ear wax but I think you are using the wrong tool. Qtips push the wax deeper in the canal, while removing only a portion of the wax. You really should be using someting that can scoop out the wax. So here are a few of my trusty tools. Bobby pins are fantastic. They have the loop at the back end and act as a shovel, filling the loop with the wax, then you take another bobby pin to clean the loop off the other one. You can clearly feel when the pin is in far enough so there is no need to panic about busting anything in the ear. Also paper clips can be made to do the same thing. Just open and twist the wire. These are great because they can sit right out on your desk and look like a common office supply without people realizing you use them for personal hygine. Lastly there is the pen cap. These are nice because there is more to hold onto while scooping. You insert the long thin stick into the ear and swirl. These are also nice because they are easy to clean, just wipe them on your tie, people will think you spilt a little egg yoke. Then put the cap back on the pen for future use or watch in pleasure as someone borrows your pen and slips the cap into their mouth. That is particulary gratifing.
OK .. this is the best comment ever. I'm impressed, disgusted, and troubled. Troubled because for years i have been using the WRONG TOOL!! Pen cap - dewax - eggnog - watch someone else eat .. Im doing that tomorrow.
Dear Heather-
You should be designing instruments. The stainless steel Angled Buck Curette (link below) is perhaps closest to your creation, but yours has added features not available in any store.
http://www.audiologyonline.com/articles/pf_article_detail.asp?article_id=1770
I thought of you recently ("what would Heather do here?") in the ER while I was removing a 1 centimeter long carrot fragment firmly wedged deep inside a preschooler's very small nose (do the math). In fact, shifting to your basic strategy rather than messing around with forceps or swabs resulted in smiles all around. I am happy to bring a carrot and the equipment to illustrate the mechanics on Brian, if that would help prove your method's superiority.