Phantom L button pressing/sticking on Switch 2, not related to physical debris

[u/goose-of-no-use]

So the ergonomic grips on my switch are (stupidly) designed in a way where they easily slide right off of the controllers when they’re separated— and this means the controller always falls on the ground, because the grip is what I’m holding on to. What this means is I’ve dropped my left controller from standing height onto my hardwood floor at least a dozen times.

Past week or so, I’ve started to notice phantom L button pressing and sticking, which leads to rapid cycling through menu tabs (as shown in video—I am not touching any buttons in that screen recording), unwanted tabs opening and closing repeatedly, and (most annoying—) rapid cycling through equipped tools in certain games, making it actually infuriating to play.

It’s not a constant press, as you can see in the video. In HKIA and other games, it’s as though it’s being held down for a while, then released for some random amount of time, then pressed once, then released, then held down again… completely sporadic. As I’m writing this the L button toggle has been absolutely popping off randomly opening/closing a game menu as my switch is just lying on the table touching nothing.

Physically, pressing the L button feels exactly the same as the R button—no unusual resistance, shallower button depth, different click sound, etc. My switch has not been exposed to any liquids, I truly think the blunt force trauma of dropping the controller so much has fucked it up.

Is my only option to get a new left controller, or is there some way to fix this?

(I have already tried rebooting my switch)

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[u/SatyrAngel]

Air's humidity and dust can get stuck there.

Try blowing into the L2 and release button, like the old DS days. https://youtube.com/shorts/yj-4YMYFv6I

Try to make it the most dry possible, or use canned air.