WEBVTT - Earwax: Portable Time Capsules

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind.

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<v Speaker 1>My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas. And

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<v Speaker 1>if you were listening to this podcast, you are, in

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<v Speaker 1>fact listening to it through tiny little tunnels of delicious

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<v Speaker 1>ear wax. That's true. These these sounds waves have to

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<v Speaker 1>make their way through ear wax, and we discount the stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>But today we're going to talk about the merits of it.

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<v Speaker 1>We're gonna talk about the smell of it, which I

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<v Speaker 1>didn't realize what it was a thing. Yeah, I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know that I'd ever sniffed ear wax because

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<v Speaker 1>I feel like you really at your sniffing stage with

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<v Speaker 1>bodily excretions at a far younger age, and I don't

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<v Speaker 1>remember encountering ear wax as a child. Bright. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>that's more of your your parents domain right to deal

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<v Speaker 1>with whatever your ear wax situation is, or maybe the doctor.

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<v Speaker 1>But but then once you reach the age where you

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<v Speaker 1>are removing your own ear wax, hopefully you're at a

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<v Speaker 1>point where you're not going to smell it a lot.

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<v Speaker 1>That's my stance on the WHO way and if you do,

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<v Speaker 1>that's fine. This is not a place of judgment. I

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<v Speaker 1>will disclose not that I smell at your wax, but

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<v Speaker 1>that's one of those things that if I'm kind of

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<v Speaker 1>thinking about something or I'm lost in my head, I

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<v Speaker 1>will find that my finger is drifting up to my

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<v Speaker 1>ear and all. Sometimes you're like, yeah, I'm at work,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't need to be exploring my ear canals right now. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>as we get older, we have to explore our ear

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<v Speaker 1>canals more because all sorts of stuff goes wrong in there, right,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, you end up with hair growing for no reason.

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<v Speaker 1>You end up with I mean it has a reason,

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<v Speaker 1>but not but there's a limit, come on, body, you know, yeah? Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>and then then the ear wax can get a little

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<v Speaker 1>out of out of control. I think we've all been

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<v Speaker 1>in that situation where you've you've been around uh, an

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<v Speaker 1>older individual, maybe somebody you know or related to, or

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<v Speaker 1>maybe not, and you glimpse inside that ear and it

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<v Speaker 1>and you'll see something just horrific. Be it a big

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<v Speaker 1>tough of like rabbit fur growing out, or like an

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<v Speaker 1>orb of earwax just setting there like it's like it's

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<v Speaker 1>a spaceship that's going to be launched out of the

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<v Speaker 1>body and out into the void crude with with all

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<v Speaker 1>sorts of little organisms from the person's head well, which

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<v Speaker 1>is kind of like what we're going to talk about today,

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<v Speaker 1>this sort of time capsule that that you can sometimes contain.

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<v Speaker 1>And according to Dr Rick Tights, an emergency room doctor,

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<v Speaker 1>he said, I have over the year's teen live and

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<v Speaker 1>dead bugs, broken off Q tips, pieces of chocolate, nuts

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<v Speaker 1>and cookies, toy parts in some unidentifiable objects. So yes,

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes things get stuck in there, and particularly when you're

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<v Speaker 1>talking about Toddler's intentionally stuck in there. Yeah, thankfully I

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<v Speaker 1>have not experienced that firsthand yet, but I mean, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>it was more about the nose. Oh yeah, I'm experiencing

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<v Speaker 1>the nose big time. But yeah, that is good times,

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<v Speaker 1>by the way, Yeah, so far, it's just finger up

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<v Speaker 1>there most of the day. But they the yeah, the

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<v Speaker 1>the the ear canal and are sticking of things into it.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the stories that always comes to mind when

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<v Speaker 1>I think about Q tips going in the ear or

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<v Speaker 1>bugs going into the ear, which if you haven't experienced that,

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<v Speaker 1>it can be pretty horrific because a bugets in there

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<v Speaker 1>and starts flapping its wings. It's incredibly loud. Um. John

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<v Speaker 1>Hanning speak one of the gentlemen who discovered the source

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<v Speaker 1>of the Nile, along with the Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton.

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<v Speaker 1>He was left temporarily temporarily deaf uh after a beetle

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<v Speaker 1>crawled into his ear and he tried to remove it

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<v Speaker 1>with a knife. That this is an eighteen fifty six

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<v Speaker 1>during an Eastern African expedition to find the African Great Lakes.

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<v Speaker 1>So I always think about that one whenever I because

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<v Speaker 1>there was a rather horrific portrayal of it in the

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<v Speaker 1>movie The Mountains of the Moon, which was about speaking Burton, well,

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<v Speaker 1>thank you, because this is high roach season in Georgia

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<v Speaker 1>where we live, and they're they're scattering themselves all over

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<v Speaker 1>the place, all over the floors and there after your canals. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean it's a nice safe refuge for them, right,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean until we have to stab them with something

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<v Speaker 1>and and and deafen ourselves. Or if you're going to

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<v Speaker 1>actually do the correct thing, uh, use some sort of

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<v Speaker 1>like alcohol or oil or some sort of water. Don't

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<v Speaker 1>go to the doctor, or go to the doctor, but

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<v Speaker 1>don't go don't grab a knife and start stabbing at

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<v Speaker 1>the beetle in your head. No, don't try to recreate

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<v Speaker 1>the eight Yeah, alright, So what exactly is ear wax?

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<v Speaker 1>This is kind of fascinating. It's a It's actually a

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<v Speaker 1>kind of sweat called saruman and apricrene. Sweat glands add

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<v Speaker 1>protein and fats to sweat, okay, And this is a

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<v Speaker 1>kind of modified form of these sweat glands found in

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<v Speaker 1>the ear canal, and its output is ear wax. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>So this is oil and protein, but about half of

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<v Speaker 1>it is dead skin cells. Essentially. You can think of

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<v Speaker 1>it this way. This is what I'm thinking about it. Anyway.

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<v Speaker 1>Ear wax is a river of dead skin cells flowing

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<v Speaker 1>out of your ear. Because if you did not have

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<v Speaker 1>that outward flow, what would happen? You would just have

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<v Speaker 1>a build up of dead skin cells in your ear. Right,

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<v Speaker 1>It's true, and that's good that you say it that that way.

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<v Speaker 1>It is a flow. In fact, the cells inside the

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<v Speaker 1>ear canal are unique in the human body. They migrate

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<v Speaker 1>and according to Professor Shakil said, at London's Royal National

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<v Speaker 1>there was an ear hospital. You could put an ink

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<v Speaker 1>dot on the ear drum and then watch it move

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<v Speaker 1>over a few weeks and it would be carried out

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<v Speaker 1>by the movement of these cells, so that this is

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<v Speaker 1>very intentional. This flow of amber ear wax lava stuff

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<v Speaker 1>is dying in there. We have to get it out.

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<v Speaker 1>We have to get it out of the air canal.

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<v Speaker 1>And so it follows the river of your life. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>and the normal sort of movement of the jaw also

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<v Speaker 1>helps it along. And you know, eating and talking that

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<v Speaker 1>assists with the with the movement. But let's talk about

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<v Speaker 1>the more interesting aspects of it, which are the protective qualities. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>that's right. It's uh, you know, certainly it's moving the

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<v Speaker 1>dead skin cells. It's help, but it's it's helping to

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<v Speaker 1>keep the canal clean overall. It's uh, it's preventing it

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<v Speaker 1>from itching. Yeah, and it's lubricating it in that way

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<v Speaker 1>so then it doesn't itch. And then it's kind of

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<v Speaker 1>like a fly catcher for dirt and bacteria, which is

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<v Speaker 1>so cool because we again this stuff is maligned, right,

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<v Speaker 1>we get Q tips. Uh, we try to get it

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<v Speaker 1>out of our ear. We're like, oh, it's disgusting, but

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<v Speaker 1>in fact it is protecting us. And between one thousand

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<v Speaker 1>to two thousand glands produce anti microbial peptides. It also

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<v Speaker 1>contains lie de zyme and antibacterial enzyme capable of destroying

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<v Speaker 1>bacterial cell walls. So it's not just ushering stuff out

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<v Speaker 1>and catching stuff, but it's also kind of washing it

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<v Speaker 1>at certain moments and making sure that bacteria does not

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<v Speaker 1>live in your body. Yeah, because this is just another

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<v Speaker 1>open doorway into the head, and therefore it, I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>it makes sense that it should have certain protections in place. Indeed,

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<v Speaker 1>all right, we're gonna take a quick break, and when

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<v Speaker 1>we come back, we're gonna have a little more about

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<v Speaker 1>the science of ear wax, what our ear wax can

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<v Speaker 1>tell us about ourselves and others. Hey, we're back, um

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<v Speaker 1>talking about ear wax. Here's a little to that that

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<v Speaker 1>I wasn't aware of until I was looking around for

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<v Speaker 1>odd bits on ear wax, and I found out that

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<v Speaker 1>in medieval times, ear wax was actually used as a

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<v Speaker 1>pigment component in the illumination of manuscripts, which instantly made

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<v Speaker 1>me think of the various uh fictions where you'll encounter

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<v Speaker 1>and and of course also occasionally real life examples of

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<v Speaker 1>say a book that's bound in human skin or a

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<v Speaker 1>book that's written in human blood, but I've never seen

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<v Speaker 1>a horror movie or horror story where there's some sort

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<v Speaker 1>of mysterious volume that's written in human ear wax. So

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<v Speaker 1>is it the preservative qualities of the fats in it?

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<v Speaker 1>I guess that might be part of it. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>there's not a whole lot of color to it. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>we would well discuss We definitely would be talking about

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<v Speaker 1>western ear wax here, so we'll be talking about, oh,

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<v Speaker 1>you know that that that waxy yellow tint, but uh,

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<v Speaker 1>or and it's gonna get a little darker in age,

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<v Speaker 1>so I could see it possibly playing into into coloration

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<v Speaker 1>as well. Or maybe you're just setting there in the

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<v Speaker 1>scriptorium all day, Uh, you're eliminating manuscripts, and occasionally your

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<v Speaker 1>brush is going to go into the ear canal. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>it's gonna go out, it's gonna go in the notes,

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<v Speaker 1>it's gonna go a lot of places, and it's gonna

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<v Speaker 1>make its way into the final version of the manuscript,

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<v Speaker 1>and then you have your oprah aha moment. Yeah, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>all right, So that's kind of the perfect segue into

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<v Speaker 1>what we're about to talk about. And you had already

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<v Speaker 1>mentioned that western ear wax is far different than someone

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<v Speaker 1>from say East Asia. Yes, And this was borne out

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<v Speaker 1>by scientists at the Monell Institute, and they were inspired

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<v Speaker 1>to see if ethnic groups have different ear wax odors

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<v Speaker 1>after they learned that the same gene controls both the

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<v Speaker 1>person's underarm odor and the type of ear wax that

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<v Speaker 1>they make, so that's the place they will come from.

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<v Speaker 1>Does the ear wax smell differently? They measure the concentration

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<v Speaker 1>of twelve volatile organic compounds found in ear wax in

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<v Speaker 1>groups of East Asian and white men, and what they

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<v Speaker 1>found is that if you are East Asian or Native American,

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<v Speaker 1>it's likely to be dry and white, kind of flaky,

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<v Speaker 1>and but if you would describe yourself as white or black,

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<v Speaker 1>your ear wax would probably be yellow and sticky and smelling. Yea.

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<v Speaker 1>My wife and I actually rando a little this. We

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<v Speaker 1>brought our child in to see the pediatrician because he

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<v Speaker 1>is is racially Han Chinese and the we are Uh Caucasian,

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<v Speaker 1>and he initially had a certain amount of of wax

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<v Speaker 1>build up in his ears that had to be taken

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<v Speaker 1>care of. But the pediatrician had some difficulties figuring exactly

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<v Speaker 1>what was going on because I don't think she was

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<v Speaker 1>as exposed as much to to this this East Asian

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<v Speaker 1>variant of ear wax, which is again flaki or dryer.

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<v Speaker 1>And and therefore, if you're if you look going into

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<v Speaker 1>an ear and you're expecting to see Western ear wax,

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<v Speaker 1>you're gonna be a little thrown for a curve of

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<v Speaker 1>the material itself has a has a different a different consistency.

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<v Speaker 1>See Okay, And that's that's one of those things that

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<v Speaker 1>you just don't know until you get in the ear canal. Right,

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<v Speaker 1>so did she smell it? I don't think she smelled it.

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<v Speaker 1>I haven't smelled it either, you know, But but it

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<v Speaker 1>would but would apparently have less of an odor, as

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<v Speaker 1>would as would his sweat, which I'm all for anything

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<v Speaker 1>to keep this child less stinky right on. Yeah, And

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<v Speaker 1>considering again that this is a variant of the apocrine

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<v Speaker 1>sweat gland, and we know the apprine sweat gland producing

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<v Speaker 1>some really funky stuff. So it's not too crazy that

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<v Speaker 1>your ear wax might smell. But you're probably still wondering, like,

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<v Speaker 1>why are there scientists sniffing ear wax? Why do they

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<v Speaker 1>think that's so important? Well, it turns out that they

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<v Speaker 1>also that the Institute Monel Institute studies a rare genetic

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<v Speaker 1>disorder called maple syrup urine disease ease, which can be

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<v Speaker 1>easily diagnosed through the scent of ear wax compounds and

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<v Speaker 1>swabbing someone's ears is much simpler and cheaper than doing

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<v Speaker 1>genetic testing. And when I when we talk about this

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<v Speaker 1>maple syrup urine disease really literally your your sweat and

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<v Speaker 1>your ear wax smells like maple syrup because it's a

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<v Speaker 1>metabolism disorder and it's passed down through families and which

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<v Speaker 1>the body can't break down certain parts of proteins. And

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<v Speaker 1>it might seem like, oh, that's lovely if you just

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<v Speaker 1>smell like maple syrup all the time, but in fact

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<v Speaker 1>it's it's a it can be really dangerous that disease.

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<v Speaker 1>It can cause bring damage, coma and cognitive disabilities. So

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<v Speaker 1>all of this makes sense right that that ear wax

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<v Speaker 1>would provide some insight into what's going on genetically, because

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<v Speaker 1>again it's composed of dead skin cells. It's a uh,

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<v Speaker 1>it contains the output of of of the two thousand

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<v Speaker 1>different glands working at once, So it's not just some

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<v Speaker 1>stupid byproduct of a human body. It's a very very

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<v Speaker 1>telling by product of the human body. Yeah, And the

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<v Speaker 1>hope is that by examining this ear wax we can

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<v Speaker 1>begin to tell more and more about someone's health and wellness. Um.

0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:11.120
<v Speaker 1>But because we're talking about these again portable time capsules

0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:13.240
<v Speaker 1>telling us something about the body. And there's nothing more

0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:19.560
<v Speaker 1>indicative of this ability than whales and their gigantic ear

0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:22.760
<v Speaker 1>plugs of ear wax. Yeah, and it really is like

0:12:22.800 --> 0:12:25.400
<v Speaker 1>an ear plug composed of their own ear wax that

0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:30.120
<v Speaker 1>they accumulate throughout their entire life. Uh. And they eventually

0:12:30.160 --> 0:12:35.079
<v Speaker 1>reach a size of in length. Yeah, they're huge and

0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:38.400
<v Speaker 1>unlike humans, you know, which we shed our ear wax

0:12:38.440 --> 0:12:42.240
<v Speaker 1>and our our dead skin cells. Um, these filter feeding

0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:46.080
<v Speaker 1>whales do retain it your entire lives. And so what

0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:49.480
<v Speaker 1>happens is that it's recording life events similarly to the

0:12:49.559 --> 0:12:52.040
<v Speaker 1>rings of a tree. And in fact, they used to

0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:53.880
<v Speaker 1>They've known for a while that this is a good

0:12:53.880 --> 0:12:56.360
<v Speaker 1>way to tell how old a whale was. Just see

0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:59.760
<v Speaker 1>how how big the ear plug is. But you can

0:12:59.760 --> 0:13:02.360
<v Speaker 1>tell been more exactly because the wax is laid down

0:13:02.400 --> 0:13:05.560
<v Speaker 1>in light and dark bands, with each band correlating roughly

0:13:05.600 --> 0:13:07.960
<v Speaker 1>to a six month period, so all of that can

0:13:08.000 --> 0:13:09.880
<v Speaker 1>be examined and you can figure out what's going on.

0:13:10.400 --> 0:13:14.320
<v Speaker 1>Sasha Usenko and environmental scientists at Baylor University in Waco,

0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:18.000
<v Speaker 1>Texas extracted an ear plug from a blue whale. It

0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:19.800
<v Speaker 1>was killed in a collision with a ship off the

0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:23.720
<v Speaker 1>coast of Santa Barbara and California. And that plug of

0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:26.400
<v Speaker 1>ear wax was a nice, big, healthy, twenty four point

0:13:26.440 --> 0:13:29.320
<v Speaker 1>five centimeters long. But they found is that this twelve

0:13:29.400 --> 0:13:33.040
<v Speaker 1>year old male had come into contact with sixteen different

0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:37.840
<v Speaker 1>pollutants like pesticides and flame retardants. Wow. So you can

0:13:37.840 --> 0:13:39.680
<v Speaker 1>look at this thing, which is again like a like

0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:43.400
<v Speaker 1>a core sample of the different segmentary layers in this

0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:47.319
<v Speaker 1>in this creature's life, it's a timeline, a waxy timeline

0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:50.600
<v Speaker 1>of its life. You can see where has it come

0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:53.080
<v Speaker 1>into contact with pollutants. You can see where as it

0:13:53.120 --> 0:13:55.120
<v Speaker 1>had a lot of stress. Where can you see the

0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:58.800
<v Speaker 1>stress hormones in the wax sample. Yeah, you can even

0:13:58.840 --> 0:14:03.160
<v Speaker 1>see the testosterone and surge indicating when it was maturing.

0:14:03.800 --> 0:14:06.679
<v Speaker 1>And then as you say, yeah, these cortisol levels going

0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:09.880
<v Speaker 1>up doubling in some cases. In fact, one of the

0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:14.440
<v Speaker 1>biggest peaks in stress hormone cortisol that they saw was

0:14:15.360 --> 0:14:18.240
<v Speaker 1>right after the whale had reached sexual maturity about ten

0:14:18.280 --> 0:14:21.080
<v Speaker 1>years old, suggesting that there was stress from sexual competition.

0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:24.040
<v Speaker 1>You can even see the amount of pollutants and hormones

0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:27.440
<v Speaker 1>transferred to the whale from its mother while it was

0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:30.560
<v Speaker 1>while it was inside her, and apparently the majority of

0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:34.800
<v Speaker 1>those contaminants of those um those bits of chemical pollutants

0:14:34.960 --> 0:14:38.440
<v Speaker 1>were transferred during that time. So this is of course

0:14:38.480 --> 0:14:42.400
<v Speaker 1>all very useful information in studying the blue whale and

0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:46.120
<v Speaker 1>trying to figure out how we can keep the population

0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:50.240
<v Speaker 1>of blue whales from shrinking even further. It's already far

0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:52.560
<v Speaker 1>smaller than it needs to be. Yeah, And even the

0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:55.760
<v Speaker 1>effects of pollution, because although flame retardant has been banned

0:14:55.760 --> 0:14:59.840
<v Speaker 1>for fifty years, it's apparently still out there particles of

0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:02.800
<v Speaker 1>in the ocean. So we've talked about this before, the

0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:07.240
<v Speaker 1>ocean being this great, big, unexplored area for us. We

0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:11.240
<v Speaker 1>don't have a great understanding of the breadth and depth

0:15:11.280 --> 0:15:16.800
<v Speaker 1>of it and how our environment impacts it. And this

0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:20.120
<v Speaker 1>is just one other indication of of how stuff that

0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:23.000
<v Speaker 1>we just use on a regular basis really has a

0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:26.160
<v Speaker 1>long term impact indeed, I mean that the shadow cast

0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:29.760
<v Speaker 1>by any of these these these pollutants is far greater

0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:33.400
<v Speaker 1>than we typically realize. Indeed. All right, but back to

0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:36.080
<v Speaker 1>the ear wax and humans, I think we should probably

0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:40.280
<v Speaker 1>end this podcast by saying, obviously, don't pick up that

0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:42.480
<v Speaker 1>Q tip as much as you want to and jam

0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:46.720
<v Speaker 1>it into your ear canal, and please please do not

0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:51.200
<v Speaker 1>get an ear cone and engage in what's called ear candling,

0:15:51.240 --> 0:15:53.680
<v Speaker 1>which we've talked about at length. Have you have You've

0:15:53.720 --> 0:15:56.240
<v Speaker 1>done it before, I've done it before, and there's you know,

0:15:56.600 --> 0:15:58.920
<v Speaker 1>you know there's something wrong when you have your head

0:15:58.960 --> 0:16:01.640
<v Speaker 1>tipped over and you have something on fire in your ear.

0:16:01.920 --> 0:16:03.680
<v Speaker 1>You know that that shouldn't be going on. And the

0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:06.480
<v Speaker 1>flame on these things climbs pretty high. It's it's not

0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:10.000
<v Speaker 1>really I mean, it's to be honest, the sensation is

0:16:10.080 --> 0:16:12.520
<v Speaker 1>kind of interesting. You know. I won't I won't say

0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:17.840
<v Speaker 1>that I hated having my ear candled, but but it's

0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:20.560
<v Speaker 1>it also felt very dangerous, like we're going to catch

0:16:20.560 --> 0:16:22.440
<v Speaker 1>the health and fire at any given moment doing this

0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:24.720
<v Speaker 1>and ultimately doesn't really do any good. In fact, they

0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:27.200
<v Speaker 1>can have it can it can actually harm you. The

0:16:27.280 --> 0:16:29.800
<v Speaker 1>FDA warrants. They not only can ear candles lead to

0:16:29.920 --> 0:16:33.520
<v Speaker 1>obviously burns, they can also block the ear canal or

0:16:33.680 --> 0:16:37.240
<v Speaker 1>perforate the ear drums. So there's really no reason to

0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:40.800
<v Speaker 1>do it, and you want to explain that in your situation, right, Yeah,

0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:44.360
<v Speaker 1>So I decided to candle my ear whole and they're like,

0:16:44.400 --> 0:16:48.280
<v Speaker 1>all right, go getting that line. I just got your candled. Yeah. Yeah,

0:16:48.600 --> 0:16:50.920
<v Speaker 1>but the Q tip, of course, that's still a cautionary thing.

0:16:51.000 --> 0:16:53.160
<v Speaker 1>I mean, the package says don't stick it in your ear,

0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:55.520
<v Speaker 1>which leads to the question, what are they want? What

0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:57.240
<v Speaker 1>are we supposed to be using them for? I always

0:16:57.280 --> 0:17:00.000
<v Speaker 1>think just the outside of the ear, just a little

0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:04.160
<v Speaker 1>maze around the actual ear canal. Sure, okay, that's valid.

0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:06.080
<v Speaker 1>That's a good place to use it. You know, I've

0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:09.720
<v Speaker 1>I've heard of individuals who have traveled to other countries.

0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:11.760
<v Speaker 1>I think this particular friend of a friend that went

0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:14.239
<v Speaker 1>to Eastern Europe and they went to the store. They

0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:16.119
<v Speaker 1>were staying there for a nextended period of time no

0:17:16.280 --> 0:17:18.720
<v Speaker 1>Q tips, So he was like, what am I gonna do?

0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:20.600
<v Speaker 1>How I'm gonna clean my ears? So he ended up

0:17:20.640 --> 0:17:23.760
<v Speaker 1>just getting pieces of tissue and then you know, twisting

0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:25.680
<v Speaker 1>it up and then trying to clean his ears that way.

0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:29.040
<v Speaker 1>That doing that, he ended up getting tissue caught in

0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:30.719
<v Speaker 1>his ear, stuck in his ear canal, and then had

0:17:30.760 --> 0:17:33.639
<v Speaker 1>to go to the doctor for that. So that raises

0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:36.520
<v Speaker 1>the question, Well, if we live in a world without

0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:39.040
<v Speaker 1>Q tips, then when we still stick things in our

0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:42.840
<v Speaker 1>ears and we'd still have to go to the emergency room,

0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:44.719
<v Speaker 1>I don't know. I feel like the e er there

0:17:44.760 --> 0:17:47.480
<v Speaker 1>was would probably be like another American tried to d

0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:51.640
<v Speaker 1>I O y a Q tip. That's my Eastern European.

0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:54.320
<v Speaker 1>That's good, that's good. I was buying it. Um. And

0:17:54.359 --> 0:17:56.600
<v Speaker 1>if you need a little something else to encourage you

0:17:56.760 --> 0:17:58.919
<v Speaker 1>not to go digging around with a Q tip, I

0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:03.320
<v Speaker 1>recommend using out the scene in the most recent season

0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:06.800
<v Speaker 1>I think it is of Girls, Oh Yeah, where she

0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:09.320
<v Speaker 1>she ends up going a little too deep with a

0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:11.200
<v Speaker 1>cute tip and then has to do the other ear

0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:15.080
<v Speaker 1>to cancel it out. Well, she has obsessive compulsive disorder,

0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:17.359
<v Speaker 1>which is why she's jamming it into her ear in

0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:20.000
<v Speaker 1>the first place. Um. But like a lot a lot

0:18:20.000 --> 0:18:21.920
<v Speaker 1>of a lot of that show is painful to watch,

0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.639
<v Speaker 1>but that scene in particular was was painful on a

0:18:24.720 --> 0:18:29.240
<v Speaker 1>very physical level, because you're just going don't do that

0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:31.560
<v Speaker 1>to your ears? Yeah. Yeah, And if you really need

0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:33.000
<v Speaker 1>to do that, you feel like you've got at your

0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:34.960
<v Speaker 1>wife poem, you gotta go see the doctor. Right. And

0:18:35.040 --> 0:18:36.720
<v Speaker 1>in fact, there is a great little video that I

0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:40.360
<v Speaker 1>sent you and I said, green geting awful, which shows

0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:44.720
<v Speaker 1>a professional extraction of a giant chunk of ear wax.

0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:47.080
<v Speaker 1>And it looks like when they're taking it out, looks

0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:50.719
<v Speaker 1>like a croissant that's been stuped into someone's ear. Can

0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:54.160
<v Speaker 1>you imagine? I can imagine. I can picture it because

0:18:54.160 --> 0:18:55.960
<v Speaker 1>you made me watch the video. Are are we going

0:18:56.000 --> 0:18:58.160
<v Speaker 1>to turn that video into a science on the Web episode?

0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:00.440
<v Speaker 1>I think so? All right, we must be down look

0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:04.879
<v Speaker 1>forward to that everyone in the meantime. Uh And certainly

0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:05.960
<v Speaker 1>if you want to go ahead and see if that

0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:08.520
<v Speaker 1>video has published yet, and it may have, who knows

0:19:08.720 --> 0:19:11.679
<v Speaker 1>what the timeline isn't the sort of thing, UH, go

0:19:11.760 --> 0:19:14.119
<v Speaker 1>to Stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. That is

0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:16.480
<v Speaker 1>where you will find all the podcast episodes. That's where

0:19:16.520 --> 0:19:19.959
<v Speaker 1>you'll find links out to our very social media account

0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:23.320
<v Speaker 1>to find our blog posts of videos, everything you could

0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:26.760
<v Speaker 1>want to know about Julie and myself and uh you

0:19:26.760 --> 0:19:28.200
<v Speaker 1>know we'd like to hear from you on this ear

0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:32.320
<v Speaker 1>wax situation. Yeah, it's a safe place you can send

0:19:32.400 --> 0:19:34.240
<v Speaker 1>us your thoughts on it. You can let us know

0:19:34.280 --> 0:19:37.320
<v Speaker 1>what the consistency and the smell is if you happen

0:19:37.400 --> 0:19:41.200
<v Speaker 1>to know that any odd ear wax stories were gained

0:19:41.240 --> 0:19:43.520
<v Speaker 1>for them, and you could do that by sending an

0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:47.200
<v Speaker 1>email to blow the mind at how step works dot

0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:54.480
<v Speaker 1>com for more on this and thousands of other topics.

0:19:54.560 --> 0:20:00.480
<v Speaker 1>Does it, how stuff works dot com be you or

0:20:00.680 --> 0:20:00.960
<v Speaker 1>about