For me, it goes teeth, shower, skincare, hair. For you, it could go bath, shampoo, moisturiser, sleep. But whatever your daily (and nightly) routine is, it turns out that some hygiene practices have the potential to be a little more ~spicy~ than the rest.
At least, that’s according to Dr. Karan Raj, a TikTok-famous doctor who’s known for sharing unusual facts and debunking medical myths on the app.
In a recent video, he responded to a person who said “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,” the doctor said, “you’re having an ‘eargasm’.”
Dr. Raj went on to explain that not only are eargasms completely real, but that you can also get “ear boners” (yes, really).
And it’s not just direct touch that can activate the response. It turns out that some music can get you going, too. So we thought we’d share how eargasms work – for completely selfless reasons, of course.
Your ear G-spot is related to the vagus nerve
”The happy button in your ear-holes is a glitch,” Dr. Raj begins his explanation.
He goes on to say that “a branch of the vagus nerve, which carries information about touch and sensation, extends into the ear.”
For some people, touching or stimulating this results in a cough reaction, because your brain confuses the item in your ear with having something stuck in your throat. And the inverse can be true, too; getting an irritated throat can lead to a sore ear. But for others, he says, the result is a little more sensual.
Dr. Raj shared that a lucky few experience “eargasms”. For these people, stimulating the vagus nerve “leads to a parasympathetic response and a calming effect”. Sounds familiar, right?
This effect could explain why ears are erogenous zones for so many people. “It’s very likely that the erectile tissues in your ears engorge,” Dr. Raj said – so basically, not only can you have eargasms, but they can come (teehee) from your ear boners too.
Touch can simulate the tissue, but Dr. Raj says that so can music and even humming.
No matter what, though, he says it’s important to keep those cotton swabs out of your ears. They can further compact the wax (delicious sentence to type) and even puncture your eardrum.
Here’s Dr. Raj’s full video: