Q-Twists earwax removal device any good or a scam even?

MiserlyMartin

https://qtwists.com

They are advertising on youtube with 2 minute ads in between videos. Looks impressive but I googled this product for reviews and can't find much about it. It sounds impressive but if it were this good why is it not mentioned by doctors here?. Doctors here are not doing ear wax removal because of COV19, along with a load of other NHS services which are unaccessible during this pandemic.   Eg Dentists at home on furlough and why wouldn't they be since they can be on full pay and not have to be worried about working and possibly catching C19.
Anyhow I digress, I can't see which country this thing ships from or who owns this company apart from 'pandoo shop' whoever they are. So a product like this is tempting during lockdown.

unforeseen

The website is 3 weeks old. 

Boa21

The general expert advice is never put things into your ear canal. If your wax is really that bad you need to see a specialist.

An ENT consultatant I worked with gave the general advice that you should never try to put anything smaller than your elbow into your ear canal

MACKEM99

A while back I used an item from chemist a type of spray in a small plastic bottle you spray into your ear - not sure if its still available.

sarah1972

MiserlyMartin said:

https://qtwists.com

They are advertising on youtube with 2 minute ads in between videos. Looks impressive but I googled this product for reviews and can't find much about it. It sounds impressive but if it were this good why is it not mentioned by doctors here?. Doctors here are not doing ear wax removal because of COV19, along with a load of other NHS services which are unaccessible during this pandemic.   Eg Dentists at home on furlough and why wouldn't they be since they can be on full pay and not have to be worried about working and possibly catching C19.
Anyhow I digress, I can't see which country this thing ships from or who owns this company apart from 'pandoo shop' whoever they are. So a product like this is tempting during lockdown.

It won’t be mentioned by doctors here for one simple reason, you shouldn’t be putting anything in your ears. 

If your ears are that bad, I would suggest a referral from your doctor to an ENT specialist 

MiserlyMartin

Due to Covid 19 it is difficult to get a doctors appointment. I did see the doctor after a 4 week wait but was not referred, since the nurse service at the surgery that deals with that kind of thing was not operating due to the virus. The theory of this product is that these things are safe to put into your ears, but cotton buds are not.

unforeseen

A lot CCGs have withdrawn earwax removal as an NHS service and it now needs to be a serious problem before it can be referred to ENT

Ms_N

Very suspicious, probably just a new advertising campaign. I can’t find anything about the inventor and there are already lots of products on the market that look EXACTLY the same just with different names, eg Smart Swab, on Wish and Amazon.

stokesd3

Yes I was intrigued and when I clicked through via the YouTube ad, the format of the site immediately rung alarm bells. Countdown clocks and notifications of the same fake buyers 1 hour ago at the top. And of course the price of £27 with a supposed 50% discount lol. Look on Amazon there's loads of cheaper alternatives with largely bad reviews.
To confirm if a scam, I recommend checking the domain in whois domaintools for when the registration was created. Like unforeseen said earlier, it was very recent.

NeilCr

My ex has had a blocked ear for ages. She tried everything and finally contacted her GP. They wouldn't see her but gave her a prescription for something stronger

Private audiologists do wax removal. If you can afford it (and I recognise it is expensive) they are back open and working - certainly down here. And, having checked today, mine, at least, will remove ear wax now

geekrd

I saw the same ad on YouTube. And I remembered the same advice from an anatomy lecturer: 'don't put anything bigger than your elbow into your ear'. The pics in the video of sticky-looking earwax extraction are pretty icky. I'm not sure I'd trust the product. This (USA) consumer reports article says what you'd expect about dealing with earwax https://www.consumerreports.org/hearing-ear-care/truth-about-earwax-removal/

This recent review of 'cerumen management' aka 'dealing with earwax' doesn't mention Q-Twists https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6990605/ 

But this abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30924345/) describes a device called the 'Earway PRO'. It has some design similarity to the Q-Twist but is for professional use http://earwaysmedical.com/earway-pro/ It is not FDA-approved so take from that what you will.