Am I Pushing My Q-Tip in Too Far? Because When I Do, This Happens

JUST DOING WHAT I DO

I have my daily routine of getting ready in the morning, and usually, after a shower, I will take a Q-Tip and clean my ears...carefully. I've done this for as long as I can remember. Depending on who you talk to, I guess people really don't need to clean their ears in most cases, but I have been.

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WHAT IS GOING ON

Regardless, every time I clean my ears with a cotton swab, I get itchy ears. I also cough. The same thing happens to me if I get a massage. If the massage therapist touches a certain spot on the side of my neck, I'll start coughing too.

IS THIS NORMAL?

So, am I the only one who has this scratching my throat with a cotton swab sensation?

Come to find out, it's really not all that common, but it's nothing to worry about if you're like me.

ARNOLD'S NERVE

There is a neve in your ear called Arnold's Nerve, and its job is to process "sense of touch." If anything makes its way into your ear canal, like a cotton swab, a bug, or your hair, it may trigger this sensation of any itchy throat as well as coughing on cue. I do both.

Because Arnold's Nerve is connected to both the throat and the ear canal, your brain can sometimes mix up the signal and think that the sensation is coming from your throat, when in fact it's your ear.

Apparently, only 2% of people are lucky enough to have this sensation on the regular. Lucky me?

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Categories: Health, Pete & Kelly