I Know Q-Tips Can Be Harmful, But I Feel Like I’m Addicted, Anybody Else?

On Tuesday's "Slater and Marjo In The Morning" the subject of Q-tips came up. Now, Q-tip is a brand just like Tylenol or Advil or Kleenex, you get the idea. Cotton swabs are commonly used for removing earwax from your ear canal, and despite warnings, we still do it.

I don't what came first, the cotton swab's relief of my inner ear itch or was the cotton swab causal? Whatever the reason, I feel like I'm addicted to Q-tips. Am I alone?

Every year it seems that an article comes out about just how bad cotton swabs are for your ear canal. Being in the audio business, I kind of need to hear. Am I harming myself? My hearing is really really good, to boot.

Ear wax is necessary, ears are self cleaning, you can damage your ears, blah blah blah. I mean, non of the aforementioned is untrue, but my ears CRAVE cotton swabs after I get out of the shower. I also feel it wasn't always this way. 😁😂

Apparently, I'm not alone.

Tickling their insides triggers all sorts of visceral pleasure. But there's more. Using Q-tips leads to what dermatologists refer to as the itch-scratch cycle, a self-perpetuating addiction of sorts. The more you use them, the more your ears itch; and the more your ears itch, the more you use them. -washingtonpost.com

Somewhere along the way, I don't know if it was exceptional marketing on Q-tip's behalf or what, but I seem to be using cotton swabs more and more, so much more that now even the outer part of my ear is starting to get dry and itchy.

I definitely have an addictive/obsessive personality, so I better lay off the Q-tips! Marjo compared my Q-tip addiction to her Chapstick addiction.