“in most cases” which since you are not the Op’s MD and didn’t look in the OP’s ear yourself, you have no idea whether or not the Op’s case is “in most cases” and since his* Doctor* said it needed a specialist, I am 99.99% sure it really does.
Hie thyself to the Specialist, Plan B. Really.
I’ve got a slight earwax problem. I’m halfway between the camp of “doctor said do it, so do it!” and the suspicion that it means “we’re too busy” or some such. No, IME, it’s hard to know exactly what hearing you’re losing since by its nature, you don’t have any good way of knowing, exactly. Further, unless you can look into your own ear - good trick, that - you can’t see exactly how bad the buildup is. In any case, you might miss some irregularity or other that could be the sign of something bad.
I’ve done the carbamide peroxide thing. Didn’t know about the urea thing… shrug, it’s another chemical, right? Couldn’t tell how well the home treatment really worked, but I’d put the drops in my ear - right, the bubbling action is indescribable - then keep my head tilted while I got into the shower to finish off with the rubber squirt toy. The other squicky part of the process is the feel of the goop that first drains out of the ear. Again, shrug - squicky is just part of what we’re made of.
Regular doctor checkups are also a good idea.
I wouldn’t worry about urea - it’s used in all sorts of cosmetic products such as hair conditioners, lotions, etc … not to mention sometimes being added to cigarettes and pretzels (yum):
I believe the urea in the carbamide peroxide is essentially a stabilizer, to give the product a longer shelf life than it would have if they just used hydrogen peroxide.
[checks CWG’s profile]
[sees “keeping a 7-year-old and 9-year-old from making me insane”]
[shudders]
Yeah, I’m sure. I’m waaaaaaaay sure.
About 12 or 13 years ago a physicians assistant had to do one of my ears at a clinic. All of a sudden I couldn’t hear much and it felt funny. Like water built up spending too much time in the pool. She used a syringe of warm water and a basin. Nothing fancy. The pencil eraser size is no exaggeration.
At her advise I use the rubber squeeze ball and warm water over the bathroom sink every couple of months. Get rid of the big problem now and keep up with the routine maintenance later and it should be OK.
Cigarettes? Hey, it must be safe!
Point. It’s probably safer than the actual tobacco. It’s added as a “flavor enhancer” - maybe the butts fished out of a urinal would be rather tasty …
(not as common since bars went smokeless around here)
FWIW…When I was a kid I had issues with large amounts of earwax and my mother dripped rubbing alcohol into my ear and then sprayed warm water into them with one of those rubber bulb-things for babies. It got some of the wax out, but my ear still hurt so she took me to the pediatrician. When Mom told her what she did, the doctor freaked and told us to never intentionally put anything, q-tips or chemical or anything into the ear. FTR, our family trusted the ped. almost blindly and used her for close to thirty years. She was (still is, actually) a fantastic doctor.
One good thing NOT to do to remove earwax is “ear candling”.
I have had this several times in recent years, and the doctor’s prescription was to drip olive oil into it morning and night for five days, then if it hasn’t shifted of its own volition then come to the practice nurse who will syringe it out. Don’t use Earex or similar over-the-counter preparations, which have fallen into disfavour as they may damage the eardrum. And DON’T start poking things in there.
The over the counter ear wax formulas are a lesser % of peroxide than the dollar bottle of peroxide is. I use the bottles about once every 2 months as a maintenance . I lay in bed on my side and syringe it in. It bubbles for a few minutes then I drip it out into a paper towel. After a while the bubbling stops then you are done.
You could always use a Super Soaker.
I was a much happier person before I knew how empty my life was without that, yoyodyne.
I was going to suggest candling, but now I’m glad I didn’t.
The bottom of this page has a description of impacted earwax, how to remove it, and the risks, which are nasty. If the earwax is impacted and has formed a very hard , tight plug, see a doctor. If you just have a lot, well you can likely use OTC methods.
KellyM has an amazing amount of earwax and I have had to remove excess more than once. One time it melted a bit and closed the canal and deafened her, but I have never seen it really impacted. I never had to pullout a hard plug, just carefully remove loads of gooey wax.
I would go with mineral oil myself. The wax is sweat that builds up in your ear. Stay away from Q-tips, they just shove it in more to your ear and can hurt your ear drum. Mineral oil gets rid of it naturally. I’m not a nurse but I’d try this or go to your Doc.
I think you might be mistaken .
Although it has been discouraged quite a bit, I found that after several years of having earwax medically removed, that the aforementioned Q-Tip after a hot bath remedied the problem. Which has been going on 15 years now. Not the all-the-way-to-the-bottom kind, but rather simply preventing the more-water-build-up variety, shallowy, kind. Of course, I’m not a physician of any sort, but that’s what’s worked for me over a decade versus going to the doctor and having the same treatment as something over the counter.
You didn’t say to do it. You said you did it.
I clean my ears by attaching the Q-tip to my elbow…