As some of you have consistently been referred to my little patch of internet by googling ”ear lavage” and turning up this post about that kidney bean of wax that was flushed out of my ear, I figured it would be irresponsible not to link to these two Boing Boing posts about how the Japanese love to dig out ear wax (here’s the original post and a link to a video). 

I’d just like to point out that it’s not just the Japanese but all Asians who love a good solid ear cleaning and go to unusual lengths to achieve this.  I remember being a child and Mammy Hong Kong using a bobby pin to gently pick out balls of dry earwax.  Nikki Nagasaki remembers her mom doing the same with her. 

The desire to stick instruments into our ears and risk perforated eardrums and the like may not simply be explained by race but rather encoded in our genes since dry earwax short circuits the ear’s natural cleaning regimen. 

Obviously, I must warn you that you should not try this stuff at home unless you’re Asian or under the supervision of a professional Asian.  As an unprofessional Asian, I recommend that you just go to the doctor to get your ears cleaned out.    

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