Hi yummymummy,
yes this bizarre 'service' is still being offered on the beaches.
I watched in horrified fascination last April as the ear cleaner did his stuff on a couple laid next to us on the beach at Baga.:omg
He spent ages probing their lugholes with what looked like a very unhygienic meat skewer which he kept wrapping with bits of toilet paper.
The couple looked like your average clean living, hard working, god fearing, Goa loving Brits; I was AMAZED at how much sh** came out of their ears! They both said that they could hear much better afterwards (not surprised)
The guy had a little book with recommendations from people, mainly Brits, praising his services. I can only assume, speaking as a qualified nurse, that these people were either under the influence of feni, very ignorant of the importance of their eardrums, or completely mad
If I run out of money I might start a bogie extraction service with a mucky Q tip - (dont you get a lot of big ones after a long flight??)

alfmac you have me in stiches i cant stop laughing i havent herd that saying LUGHOLES IN YEARS and i thought it was irish slang for ears

Hi Irishcolleen,
and there was me thinking 'lugholes' was Yorkshire slang.
I know that this is going (sorry H/T) but it's nearly 17th March, ST PADDYS DAY! One of the best days out of the year,what a a good facer in before Goa on Monday. Have a good one if you are going out, I'll have a Guinness for you even though I dont like it, well it's got to be done, it's tradition.
P.S. Fiona H/T if it helps re. topic, I'll be singing The Fields of Athenrye wi me LUGHOLES wide open! Everyone else will be plugging theirs.

Guys

It's a scam.

They aren't pulling the yuck out of your ears, just very good at slight of hand.

Think about it, how could all that gunk fit into your earhole.

If you don't believe me go to one twice in one day and you'll be amazed at how much gunk builds up in just a few hours

I always wonder where people leave their brains when they go on holiday, they take medicines for every disease know to man, cover themselves in insect repellent, then let someone on the beach that they have never met poke about in their ears.
Lez in 9 days

How could you let someone do that to you??!!

Ive never heard such a thing, I mean would you let some random person do that to you on Blackpool Beach !?!

I think not.

I totally agree, your ears are one of the most precious parts of the body. The point i was trying to make (which im not very good at trying to make points lol ) is do they still try and 'clean' your ears first (eg just pounce on you) instead of asking first? Thanks

ear cleaner pounced on my boyfriend at anjuna market luckily we had been warned by our rep that if we were accosted to shout "no, go away very loudly" which seemed to work

Ear wax gangsters

There is a gang of these pests patrolling the Calangute Candolin & Baga beaches this season They approach you , ask to look in your ear and produce a lump of muck that they have palmed and show it to you then offer to clean your ear properly. Their probes are filthy, they risk damaging your eardrum so please please do'nt let them within a mile of your ear. When finished they charge you 500rps or some ridiculous sum and get very agresssive if not paid, they make the porters at Dabolim sound polite in comparison. They really are a serious health threat. At one time they were only to be found at the wed. flea market but now they are on the beach They are very persistant and a polite no thanks wont do, you have to be quite blunt wth them. alan

*Merged to existing topic Briar

I was accosted more than once at Anjuna Market. The second time I lost my temper and gave the bloke a mouthfull. He was shocked and walked away. No apology though.

we were at Anjuna 2 years ago when a plain clothes officer caught hold of one of the ear cleaners and hit him with a Mike Tyson special. Nearly knocked him out

The golden rule with ears is never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear (or allow anyone else to do so!)
Work thant one out if you can!!

Yes Ilovegoa. I was told exactly the same thing by an ear surgeon after bursting my ear drum with a cotton bud

I am not sure if was approached by one of these guys last visit, but i couldn't hear what he was saying as my ears were full of gunk!!
del949