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Do you ever feel... good when you stick something in your ear?
Well, you're not alone.
A doctor has explained on TikTok why some people experience an, uh, ear boner when they clean their ears with a cotton swab.
Dr Karan Raj (@dr.karanr) is known for solving all manner of rogue health questions on TikTok, kind of like a modern day Embarrassing Bodies without the weird public tent.
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This week, Dr Raj stitched a video from a TikToker who posed the very important question: “I’m just saying, if I’m not supposed to put cotton swabs in my ears, then why did evolution put a happy button in there?”
“If this happens to you, you’re having an ear boner. The happy button in your ear holes is a glitch," Dr Raj explained in his stitch.
“Some people who stick things inside their ears trigger an automatic cough, but others experience an eargasm. This is because a branch of the vagus nerve, which carries information about touch and sensation, extends into the ear.
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“For those with the cough glitch, if you stick something inside your ear pipes, your brain thinks it’s something in your throat and then triggers a cough to clear the threat.”
Ok, interesting.
“It works in reverse, too,” Dr Raj continued.
“Sometimes a throat irritation can cause ear pain, and a lucky few get eargasms. For these people, stimulating the vagus nerve in the ear leads to a parasympathetic response and a calming effect, similar to the other type of gasm seen.”
The doctor said this is why some people's ears are "erogenous zones", explaining that the erectile tissue expands when it's stimulated.
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Who knew!
"Happy to be team eargasm. I love cheap thrills," one person commented.
"Sometimes I get a cough and sometimes I get an eargasm and it’s so worth the gamble," added another.
"One ear always feels good the other makes me cough but it never stays the same," said a third.
Dr Raj gave his followers full permission to continue to 'get freaky' with their ears, but he had one request: "Just leave the Q tips out of it".
Keryn Donnelly