Forum - View topicAnswerman - Why Does Anime Often Feature Ear Cleaning?
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#861208
Posts: 423 |
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . thiiiissss.... All of the things people look down on lonely single guys for doing, and call them perverts, I'm always like.... "I wish I could do that..." Also, I've... never actually seen this in an anime. I've seen it other places, though. I guess I just don't watch enough bishoujo anime... |
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Nodz
Posts: 532 |
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True Also, Yagyuu Binbokusai in Gintama seems to be the exception to asian people [img] img upload [/img] |
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ly000001
Posts: 76 |
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For those asking what to use instead of Q-tips/cotton buds, there are plenty of ear wax removal drops available at drug stores e.g. Murine Ear Wax Removal System http://a.co/iUotf9w.
For the more adventurous, you can get a earwax pick (called mimikaki/耳かき in Japanese) online. This one, http://amzn.asia/dx4sFyw, consists of coils instead of being a traditional scoop. |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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For people in Japan who live by themselves, or they live with no one whom they can trust to remove earwax without harm, what do they do? Do they do what Justin does and see a doctor every now and then for it?
I've had the warm-water and syringe thing done to me a couple of times before, though I live in the United States where something so much as an ambulance visit costs thousands of dollars and our household lost the sort of medical coverage that would allow that sort of thing without us having to pay.
That being said, this is an aspect I hadn't even thought about, and after reading it, it actually sounds like a pretty interesting and overlooked facet of Japanese culture.
The cotton swabs I get actually has a warning on the box saying not to use it in the ear. I never actually took it quite seriously, but I did suspect for a long while that the cotton could easily jam itself in the ear. I don't really have many alternatives I could use myself though. For some reason, my earwax, which was always the goopy high-lipid kind, also became smelly sometime in my teenage years, and I rinse out my ears every day as they otherwise build up a smell in there something like limburger cheese.
When I was little, my mother used a hairpin. It was pretty effective, though it did sometimes leave my ear aching a bit. No permanent damage though.
I've used one of those before when my earwax buildup started affecting my hearing, and was in fact what the doctor had me use. It wound up severely inhibiting my hearing for the days until when I went to the clinic again. When they flushed out the earwax with warm water, it turns out the drops melted the earwax such that it blocked the entire tunnel. My mom, who was watching, was shocked when it came out and referred to the stick as a "coffee stirrer" due to its tube-like shape (though it was not nearly as long as a normal coffee stirrer). |
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MoonPhase1
Posts: 497 |
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I've had a doctor remove my earwax once when it got really bad. It was like almost the size of a cockroach on how much was taken out.
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roxybudgy
Posts: 132 Location: Western Australia |
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I don't live alone, but I use a hairpin to clean my own ears. I just tilt my head slightly to the side and carefully stick the hairpin in my ear and scrape away. Been doing it since I was a teenager, you learn how to avoid poking to far to avoid pain. And prior to reading this article I had no idea that earwax was different for Asians/non-Asians. I'm of Asian descent myself so I always thought the dry flaky earwax was the norm. |
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crosswithyou
Posts: 2895 Location: California |
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I clean my ears regularly (at least once a week) with a metal ear pick, but I still use cotton swabs after showers to dry my ears. I never jam them into my ears, just a quick swirl along the outer parts to wipe away any lingering water.
That's safe... right??? I've never failed a hearing test and my hearing is actually quite good, I think. |
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belvadeer
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I wouldn't be surprised if it's become a fetish at this point. XD |
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Hiroki not Takuya
Posts: 2621 |
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I'll be the person that says it, I haven't seen a single anime where earwax cleaning is shown, so not sure where the "so many anime" comes from. I've seen a goodly number of anime over the years too. Anyone care to make a short list? Also, what is this about "yellow and smelly"? I'm solidly of European descent and it is neither very yellow and certainly isn't smelly and I've never encountered a person who that could be said of. Of course now I am imagining an anime where characters go around smelling ears and getting whacked for it...
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horseradish
Subscriber
Posts: 574 Location: Bay Area |
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My mom used a metal ear pick to clean my ears as a kid. Maybe brass. We would stand by a sun-lit window or in the backyard with my head slightly tilted. I'd compare the pick to a small knitting needle, but with a tiny angled scoop than a point. That said, the cold feeling from the pick slowly sliding into my ear canal always freaked me out inside. My dad liked poking and twisting Q-Tips in his ears until he got a wad of cotton lodged inside and I had to carefully fish it out for him. I go to the doctor to take care of my greasy earwax.
Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju S1 had a scene where Kikuhiko cleaned Sukeroku's ears. It was rather intimate and provocative since both are male best friends and Kikuhiko was twirling the pick between his fingers while Sukeroku was napping in his lap.
I usually use Q-Tips to clean small, narrow surfaces such as battery acid off metal contacts. Sometimes snip off the cotton end for some other useful purpose. Some people use them to blend makeup.
Yeah, I do that with swabs too. Just brushing it along the ear canal rim is fine. If the cotton end disappears into the ear canal, that's likely too far. |
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Vibrant Wolf
Posts: 109 Location: Canada |
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I always clean my ears using Q-tips, due to a lack of options. However, 2 years ago, I got a little overzealous, and am now slightly deaf on my right side.
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championferret
Posts: 765 |
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I'm white but my earwax has always been flaky/white/dry. I honestly thought that was the normal mode earwax is in, until I saw my dad's gross Q-tips he'd used to clean his own ears (he didn't get the memo either I guess) covered in horrid yellowy goo. I actually asked him if he had an infection, and he was genuinely surprised when I told him that mine isn't like that. Then I found out everyone in my family also had the type like my dad's and only I was different.
I had no idea it was a geographical thing until I was in Daiso the other day and saw some ear cleaning tools and one was 'for japanese earwax' and another 'for american and european earwax'. Thought I was seeing some weird lost in translation thing for a bit. If its genetic, I'm not sure where mine came from... |
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Scalfin
Posts: 249 |
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The milkman? |
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jdnation
Posts: 2085 |
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I use a Q-tip occasionally. It's best after you've put warm water in your ears and are careful not to push anything in, but to go scraping around.
But the best way is to visit your doc, usually a day after you've softened the wax inside with a few drops of olive oil and use the warm water and syringe solution. Feels good man. |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Sometimes, a gene skips a generation in a family, especially if it's recessive. (I don't know what the case is for earwax.) Odds are at least one of your grandparents, but not more than two, has or had the same kind of earwax as you do. Hand orientation managed to skip two generations in my family, though it can be hard to tell because during my grandparents' time, left-handed people were forced to write with their right hands, so there may have been lefties who were conditioned out of it. |
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