What do y’all do for it? Been using hydrogen peroxide. Is there anything better?
Thanks
Q
Thats what i use and thats what my doctor said to do.
We have to use Debrox on our daughter, and it works wonders. I reach for the peroxide first myself, though.
Products containing carbamide peroxide help soften it up, but it is not generally enough to get it out. There are kits with a bulb that you can fill with water to flush it out. You should probably go to a clinic to have a nurse flush your ear out first so that you know what it feels like. Doing it yourself is not difficult but the sensation is unusual. I don’t think you can figure it out if you have not had someone else do it for you first.
Alternatively, you can light a candle in your ear while beating a drum to Pink Floyds Dark Side of the Moon on the vernal equinox. If that doesn’t work, it’s because you were beating the wrong rhythm, so you’ll have to wait a year to try again.
I just assumed that’s where the wax came from in the first place.
ear wax irrigation kits contain a bulb for warm water rinsing and drops of mineral oil and peroxide to soften the wax. as mentioned the sensation can be strange, the idea to have it done in a clinic once is a good one, though doing it yourself is likely to be much less aggressive. irrigation can clean the whole canal.
there are also some ‘ear rakes’ available to scrape out the wax in the outer outer canal. these are of a short length and have a big disc (like a crossguard on a sword) to keep it only going in a safe distance. it is a small plastic loop on a shaft with guard and handle. it is a different strange feeling as well though different from irrigation.
Okay, the above recommended solutions are okay if you’re only cleaning out your ears every six months along with your dental hygenist teeth cleaning.
I have found that daily swabbing with a Q-tip when I get out of the shower, keeps the incidence of ear wax build up to not be a problem. It’s no different than brushing your teeth.
Actually, you’re probably packing quite a bit of wax down into your ear with a q-tip. I mean, sure, it feels great, but it really can cause problems down the road. I have overly waxy ears, so I always get the “don’t stick anything in there to clean them” lecture from the doc.
Most people do not have a problem with ear wax. This is likely the case with you. As anyone who has excessive earwax will tell you, Q-tips do more damage than good. The only thing that Q-tips can do, is wipe the exterior of your ears. People with excessive earwax have too much wax in the ear canal. In this case, all a Q-tip will do is pack the earwax in further. I’m certain that this is even stated on the Q-tip box itself somehow.
Is it excessive ear wax, or just hearing problems, because this is a good time of year for allergies, which can contribute to hearing problems (thru Eustachian tube irritation), in which case cleaning out the wax might not do any good.
The best ear wax cleaning I ever had was a vacuuming from an ENT specialist. I was having my nose looked at and they offered to clear out my ear wax as well. The doctor was surprised that I managed to block the hose with chunks of ear wax, twice!
Most of the time I don’t use anything, I just deal with it. I’ve tried the peroxide + flushing with water trick, but it didn’t seem to work for me.
Yep - my father-in-law used q-tips daily, and ended up with packed in wax that had to be removed by a doctor. My husband does the same thing, but so far hasn’t had a problem. (Of course, he doesn’t go to the doctor as routinely as he should, so perhaps the two are related.)
I do use q-tips for cleaning my ears, but do so infrequently. I’ve heard that it’s better to leave them alone - the wax will find its own way out.
I recently had some issues with compacted ear wax, and it took quite a bit of work to get it to flush out – although I was ultimately successful, all done at home.
First, 10 minute soak with whatever solution comes with those ear wax cleaning kits, then a warm water flush – no luck.
Second, 10 minute soak with hydrogen peroxide, then a warm water flush – again, no luck.
Finally (and I won’t speculate whether this worked on its own, or was just the last step in a three-step process), a few drops of apricot kernel oil (you can also use olive oil, almond oil, or other vegetable oils). Made sure the oil dribbled all the way to the back of my ear canal, then left it for an hour. Then a warm water flush, which finally dislodged the damn thing.
And yes, this wax plug was not something that could be handled with a Q-tip… I’m not sure how it happened, really, since I don’t normally have wax issues, but the plug built up even with fairly regular Q-tipping. I’d even tried the ear wax cleaning kit before, and assumed that the problem must not be wax since it didn’t dislodge anything at all. I had to have the wax plug looked at and verified by a doctor, first (my oncologist, since I was there anyway 
). It was the only reason I realized I needed to keep working at it until something came out. Yech.
I’ve never heard of using hydrogen peroxide on ear wax.
First of all, how much do you use? Secondly, how is it supposed to work? Dissolving the wax? Loosening it?
I used to be an ear-a-bator, (using q-tips) until my right ear impacted. Went to the otologist who couldn’t vacuum it out the first time, told me to go home and pour H-P in there daily and leave it for 20 minutes.
When I went back he was able to suck it out, and when I went home, I listened to my favorite classical music station, and I swear, by Og, it seemed like the right side of the orchestra was playing just for me.
The reason I posted this question is because when you get up from the H-P treatment and let it leak out, there’s still that uncomfortable “swimmer’s ear”, unable to hear, thing goin’ on. I can’t stand that shit, so I was wondering if there was anything better.
Thanks
Q
Not much, maybe 3-5 drops per ear, and let it work for 10 minutes or so (or a bit longer if you’re having trouble getting the plug out). I can hear it foaming in my ear, so I assume that it eats away at the wax a little bit, but since you’re supposed to flush with warm water afterward, I’d guess it’s mostly about softening it up enough that the stream of water can dislodge it.
I had mine vacuumed once, and afterward I thought there was something wrong with me. I could hear everything - papers rubbing together, people breathing, my clothes when I walked. I almost got into a car accident because outside noises kept distracting me. I’d had no idea my hearing was that compromised.
If it gets really bad, you can go to the doctor and have him/her flush it out. I had to have that done once when I had an earache.
(Debrox made it worse in my case – it only melted the wax on the surface – and trapped in a lot of liquid. Ugh!!!)
*Warm *H2O2.
Test it very very carefully before you put it in your ear, make sure it’s not too hot.
I don’t know about you guys, but I LOVE the feeling of cleaning out my earwax. I use the round head of a hairpin, the thing that looks like a paperclip. Goes in easy and feels great. When I’m done I want to do it again. I’ve gotten some epic lumps out. I mean, just EPIC