I followed standard medical advice and stopped cleaning my ears with Q-tips and quickly ended up with BL wax impactions! It was the worst thing, to be losing your hearing and you get very nervous when you can't hear what is happening around you. I left my appointment a totally different person- went from hunched and nervous to standing tall and smiling just because I could hear! The impact of hearing loss is much greater than I ever knew. The doctor told me to go back to cleaning my ears out like I always did.
Thank you for sharing. Very interesting. Nice clean outs, your patients must have been so relieved to hear again. I had no idea the vagus nerve in the ear could make you cough.
In my first two years of medical school (about 100 years ago), the ENT who came in to do the majority of our ENT lectures SWORE that in the first week of his ENT residency, he triggered Arnold's nerve in a patient and in put the patient into v-fib. Everyone who heard that lecture freaks out when a patient starts coughing when we're going anything in the ear.
This cough reflex happens to me every time I clean my ears. I cough even much more strongly than this gentleman did! All my life I've asked friends, etc. about this, if it happens to them, and they always say they've never heard of it.
I never knew what caused it but I’ve experienced as well but it happens to my son a lot. He gets wax build up and it typically happens in one of his ears more. He coughs so bad his eyes sometimes will get bloodshot and I have to just stop doing his ear
I just love watching alll your posts, they are unfailing quick and hold my interest. Some people take 3 hours gently tugging and teasing tiny bits out - you are careful but quick. Fabulous.,
I know what that is, because it happens to me with the ordinary cleaning you can do at home. Thankfully I don't have a problem requiring professional assistance. But I'm glad to hear confirmation of the cause of the cough reaction.
@nothankyou5524 : If I don't use ear drops every week the wax builds up. This recommended by my doctor. You can certainly do this at home to prevent the problem .
I have a theory on why these things are so addictive to watch and i am grouping this in with for example acne extraction and stye removal. I believe that it is an old instinct we have encommon with for example bonobo chimpanzee with become almost in a state of trance we groom eachother just like they become hyperfocused on the painstaking process it creates a pleasure response in our brain because at one time grooming eachother like thats was necessary for social survival in the group. Just a little armchair antropological psychology.
thank you so much i really needed this theory. i’ve always wondered because i myself dissociate & go into a trancelike state & end up creating so many scabs. always tried to find the root of the satisfaction in my brain. don’t stop sharing your theories, it can be an “aha!” moment for others. ya never know.
@candacecurtis5739 -Couple questions 4 u candacurtis if u dont mind... 1.) Are the only dangers in using a q-tip are impaction of the wax or puncturing the ear drum? There's nothing else bad that it can do, right? (Unless ur a psycho with a q-tip of course, cuz then the possibilities are endless.) 2.) What other way is there to clean ur ears at home if there's nothing out there that does what q-tips do? Thank u in advance... only if u respond obv. If u don't respond, then no thank u for u. Lol
The noise of the suction in the ear would freak me out if I was the patient. It’s like nails on a chalkboard. Points to the patients for holding as still as they are.
Ugh…I have a patient in a nursing home who gets cerumen impactions every month. He coughs and wiggles every time and cannot hold still. I ended up having to refer him to ENT. I did not want to perf that tympanic membrane.
The cough reflex is far more common than people think. I will never have to worry about q-tip cotton being impacted in my ears because I can't stick a q-tip in my ear without gagging myself.
I have really narrow ear canals. So about once a year I have to get my ears cleaned out. I've had almost every technique possible to do it. From squirt massive amounts of water in them to digging them out. I always feel the tingly, dizzying feeling associated with it too. But BOY, does it feel good afterwards.
This voice is ideal for reading materials and stories for relaxation. So soothing and mellow… 🥱😴 The vagus nerve (10th cranial nerve) actually travels throughout most of the body. It runs along the digestive system and has been identified as a possible agitator to conditions such as IBS. It’s also thought that migraine syndrome could be affected by this nerve. The third patient just had the sweetest voice. She seemed like she would be a very kind patient to have, very attentive and interested in doing what she could to prevent these types of appointments.
With all due respect, I mean that sincerely, do you ever gag at what comes out of ears? I don't understand why I keep watching even when I find the stuff disgusting, it fascinates me. Maybe it's just your voice and how calm you are. 😅
@drjent3350 I'm a RN and we use lidocaine gel for intermittent caths if there painful. I use lidocaine cream for my adult son's blood draws and vaccines. We wash really good right before.
Now for the patient with the cough, maybe if the doctor could have tried to apply a minimum amount of fluid for wax removal, could it have possibly made it a bit easier on the patient even if having to remove it in smaller pieces? 🤔 my ears stuggle to produce wax most of the time but constantly feels as though my ears need to be cleaned for the amount of ear wax in this first patients ear it'd take possibly maybe around 2 to 3 years without cleaning my ears at all
It always amazes me what people live with in their ears or nose. People that have a ton of nose hairs or ear hair. Me personally I clean my ears twice a week and have a bebird for looking into my ears and they stay extremely clean and I have terrific hearing. If people spent more time detailed in their showers and such this would be easier I think
Poor guys are like my husband. He has large canals, makes loads of wax, and it plays the devil with his hearing aids. I have small canals, make very little wax, and almost never have residue on hearing aids.
Interesting i didnt know that about the vagus nerve and i am an autistic person that hyper focuses on things i want learn now i am going to hyper focus on the nervous system in the ears. And i also must see this for myself it is a pretty funny party trick!
I think some people have the shape ear where they can clean their ears safely with a q-tip. I am one of them. Maybe our ear canals are not as deep as some people's ear canals.
people who cough during ear cleaning are dangerous and very risky to handle... especially when you're holding something sharp or pointy, so so close to the eardrum...
I have it in my right ear when I clean my ear and when the doctor has to look in it. I thought it was due to scaring from my ops for grommets as I had them from 14 months old to the age 10
