One of my ears is plugged up right now. It’s wax. Been using Murine on it for a couple of days, to no avail. I’m going to try hydrogen peroxide tomorrow. If that doesn’t work, I’m going to the doctor.
I’ve had this happen to me precisely three times in my life, and each time it’s been 1-2 months after I’ve gone off the pill. I vaguely remember someone on the old AOL SDMB mentioning a lack of ear wax while taking the pill. I’ve done a little searching, but I can’t seem to find anything that connects ear wax and the pill. Anyone know anything about this? Is there something in the pill that minimizes ear wax?
I do my best to keep my ears clean, but the wax just seems to grow in abundance right after I stop taking the pill. It’s weird.
Changing my sig, because Wally said to, and I really like Wally, and I’ll do anything he says, anytime he says to.
<BLINK>WARNING!!!</BLINK> DO NOT USE ANYTHING IN YOUR EARS IF THEY ARE PLUGGED!!! This can lead to <font size=5>severe injury!!</font> Go to your MD ASAP. He has a special cleaning kit for this purpose.
Had my ears plugged with wax once. The doc took care of it lickety-split.
With magic, you can turn a frog into a prince. With science, you can turn a frog into a Ph.D, and you still have the frog you started with.
Huh? Murine is specially made for ear wax removal.
I’ve had my doctor remove wax too. But why pay the $10 co-pay if there’s something else that might work safely? As I said, if the peroxide doesn’t work, I’ll go to the doctor. It’s not as if I’m using a backhoe in there.
Changing my sig, because Wally said to, and I really like Wally, and I’ll do anything he says, anytime he says to.
Twice I’ve had ears plug a day or two after swimming. The first time, I went to a doc in North Carolina (I was visiting my parents) and he used some kind of mechanical suction device. It seemed like it kept hitting the ear drum and it hurt like a FUCKING BASTARD. I’m lucky I didn’t get hearing loss (assuming I didn’t).
The second time I was home (in South Florida) and went to my normal GP. He used some kind of manual suction device that shot warm water and sucked it out of my ear. Felt odd, but no pain. And worked like a charm.
I can see how there would be a connection between going off of the pill and your ear wax buildup. The pill is basically an extract of hormones that prevent ovulation. Because of the increased hormonal activity in your body (due to taking the pill) your body can and does show some side effects which could very well include a lack of ear wax production.
If you still have the box that your prescription came in (the pill can only be prescribed by a doctor), check out the HUGE sheet of info that came with it. It includes all of the known side effects that can be caused by the pill. Maybe lack of earwax is listed.
-Dragwyr
“If God had meant for man to eat waffles,
he would have given him lips like snowshoes”
-Rev. Billy C. Wirtz
Just another tip, if you put some baby oil on your ear, it will soften it and make it easier for the doctor to remove it, or it may clear on it’s own. Don’t poke at it or anything.
One summer when I had a pool just outside of my apartment, I went swimming every day after work. I got a lot of water stuck in my ear. By the time it popped, it had dissolved the wax a little. It then solidified against my eardrum. After about a month of this, I was practically deaf and in a little bit of pain. I had to know someone was talking to me and pay undivided attention to understand them.
My mom knew a good ENT doctor, so I went to him. He cleared that stuff out real quick. Oh Man! That was like being reborn, how the volume just got returned!
Funny aside: I filled out the paperwork at the doctor’s and gave it to the receptionist. After about 15 minutes, a nurse came out and tapped me on the shoulder. After I knew she was talking to me, she asked, “I’ve been paging you for 5 minutes. Was there a problem?” Then she looks at my chart and notes my symptom: “Deafness”. Boy did she feel stupid!
Wrong thinking is punished, right thinking is just as swiftly rewarded. You’ll find it an effective combination.
Cristi, I thought I was the only one who had experienced this! I have had tremendous problems all my life with ear wax build-up. In fact, I used to have to go to the doctor at least once a year and have him remove it with this wire-type device (the warm water and suction never worked)
But since I have been taking birth control pills, I have not had to make a single trip to the doctor for that reason. I guess I originally attributed it to getting older but the timing is right on to indicate the pills. Let me know if you find any info from your doctor (if you go!)
The dumber people think you are, the more surprised they’re going to be when you kill them.
