Can drops put in the ear to soften wax cause temporary deafness in that ear?

In My Humble Opinion
1

It’s a kind of long story, but the question stands by itself. DL;TR

A friend’s significant other in the throes of dementia and is in a nursing home and will leave it only feet first. A couple months ago and audiologist examined her and found severe wax in her ears. He ordered the nurses to put some kind of oil first in her right ear and then take it out with a squirt gun and then repeat in the left ear. It was a struggle to put the oil in as she is not capable of being explained to. But they did it for a week and then tried, without much success to use the squirt gun as she resisted quite strongly and they are forbidden to use force. But they decided they had done it (I suppose something came out) and started oiling her left ear. My friend swears that she is now deaf in both ears and he can get through to her only by screaming into the right ear. The nurses maintain that her hearing is perfectly fine. He wants her taken to the hospital to be examined by a doctor. But moving her costs money and her not inconsiderable pensions are controlled by her son to whom she gave power of attorney 25 years ago before she and my friend were quite so close and the son refuses to pay for the ambulance to take her. He visited her two days ago (first time since Christmas, while my friend goes every day) and claims the nurses told him her hearing was fine.

Now I get wax in my ear all the time and I use a kind of oil called cerumol. I use it for a week and then use a squirt bulb to get it out. Never have I had the slightest impression that wax plus cerumol leaves my hearing any worse than wax alone and never has it left me hard of hearing. I am not entirely convinced that I trust my friend’s observation, hence my question.

2

Usually I have the same thing and for the most part its after swimming for the first time in a while, so it comes down to how impacted the stuff is and the individual ear canal. So my normal reaction is that every thing gets louder for a while before it gets back to normal.

3

Call the audiologists…

4

I have thin and troublesome ear canals which need syringing every year, which NHS nurses will only do after two weeks of oiling prior to this. I usually find that I go deafer while in the oiling stage - but then my hearing completely recovers once the wax is propelled out (ew, I know).

5

The drops can soften wax causing it to coat the eardrum and make it seem like temporary deafness.

6

This. The softened wax can block the eardrum. The solution is to keep treating it until the excess wax comes out.

7

Of course, the main problem is that she resists being treated.