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I stopped doing it not because of real or imagined wax impaction, but because I had been doing it exactly the same way forever and one day it actually did perforate my eardrum. I guess my luck finally ran out. Now that's healed and I don't feel it's worth the risk to start again.

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What was that experience like? Did it hurt? How did they treat it?

It was actually a very uncomplicated process.

Not much pain. I significantly lost hearing in that ear immediately. There was not really any way to treat it apart from waiting for it to heal itself, which it did after about 4 weeks. Hard to tell whether it's truly as good as new though.

If you've only done it once and you're not too old it should be fine. But I would be careful flying with a blocked nose or doing any diving. Depends on how big your eustachian tubes are.

Ah, damn. This sounds a lot like me except I haven't had my day of reckoning yet. I really don't stick 'em all that far in there, though...

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