Cleaning your Ears

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WinnieThePujols

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What's the best way to accomplish this? Anyone know of any unorthadox methods that work really well, or anything?

At my job, I seriously have a really hard time hearing. I have two bosses. One of them takes unreasonably quitely and I always have to ask him to repeat himself. The other one has a slight lisp (but he talks at a "good" level) but it's still kind of hard to hear.

I usually avoid the doctor unless it's really necessary. But, anyway, my hearing in my left ear has been really bad for a while now. The other day it came "unplugged" and it was opening your eyes after you have been asleep... you know how (it feels as if) your senses are heightened after you go a while without using them? Then when I woke up the next morning it was back to crappy.

It's like I can always has a ringing in it. It kind of sounds like water is running. Seriously, it's constantly like that!

Q-Tips are -not- meant to clean ears, I guess. I used to use those a lot after the problems started. I've bought those ear drops a few times, but I've never successfully used them 6 times (twice a day for three days) like you're supposed to. I always stop after a day or two.

Any non-doctor ideas? @_@
 
If a quick swipe with a QTip isn't doing the job, then this isn't something that cleaning your ears is going to help with. Without a doubt, go to the doctor, unless you want to risk permanent hearing damage.
 
Q-tips are safe to go into the ear canal as long as you're careful and don't go too deep.

Try getting one of those bulbs that put water into your air and suck it back out.

If you're still having problems then you may have a wax buildup, in which case you will need to see a doctor.

I had a wax buildup one time when I was younger. My ear would click with every step I took and it hurt. My mom actually put peroxide in my ear, and then she pulled out this huge ball of wax (I mean HUGE) out of my ear with a paper clip. Talk about old school!
 
[quote name='Troopa']Q-tips are safe to go into the ear canal as long as you're careful and don't go too deep.

Try getting one of those bulbs that put water into your air and suck it back out.

If you're still having problems then you may have a wax buildup, in which case you will need to see a doctor.

I had a wax buildup one time when I was younger. My ear would click with every step I took and it hurt. My mom actually put peroxide in my ear, and then she pulled out this huge ball of wax (I mean HUGE) out of my ear with a paper clip. Talk about old school![/QUOTE]

Paper Clip!?!?! If it was a big ball she might of got a piece of your brain :)
 
When I was a kid I had a problem like this. I went to the doctor and they flushed my ears out with water or something. It was waaaay better after.
 
An ear douche? My dad uses one. I used to think it was called a sqeegee. But for me every few days i just stuck a Q-Tiip in my ear. I thought everyone did it.
 
[quote name='pimpinc333']Paper Clip!?!?! If it was a big ball she might of got a piece of your brain :)[/QUOTE]
Yeah, she was crazy, but it worked!
 
I would also suggest the doctor. It sounds pretty bad.

But if you really do not want to do that, buy an "ear candle" They sell them at health food stores. And they work really good. It is a thin wax funnel that you stick in your ear and light on one end, It slowly burns which creates a vacuum that sucks out the wax. Works really well. You need to use some oil afterwards because it leaves your ears dried out. But it will take out a ton of wax. It is almost freaky.
 
[quote name='yukine']You should go to the doctor. If I'm not mistaken, a serious wax buildup can cause irreparable damage to your eardrum.[/QUOTE]
Ears are supposed to be self-cleaning devices. The only way the wax will hurt your ears is if you are compressing and impacting it with cotton swabs.

First of all, no doctor will tell you that put ANYTHING in your ear is safe. The potential for danger is extremely high.

Second, if you MUST clean your ears, I recommend dipping a cotton swab in a Hydrogen Peroxide solution, pushing it into your ear until you feel a barrier, and moving it back and forth. The H2O2 will start dissolving and liquidifying a lot of the wax. You can pull out a lot, and repeat the process until not much is coming out. I suggest using multiple tips, so that you don't push wax you pulled out right back in. From there, I recommend taking a little tissue and drying up and wiping up as much of the wax as possible. The wax will dry and solidify again, and leave a mess all around your ear if you don't clean it up. If you want, you can dry your inner ear with a dry cotton swab, but bear in mind that fuzz CAN get stuck in your ear.

Be careful not to push the cotton swab in too far, lest you break or damage your ear. Paper clips are terrible things to put in your ear. I caught my RA using a paper clip to clean his ear one time (his reasoning was that Doctors told him that cotton swabs weren't good for clean his ear...that guy wasn't particularly bright).
 
Just hold your nose and close your mouth really tight and pretend like you're blowing really hard. Excess wax should shoot out of your ears. If that doesn't work, try jamming paper clips into your ears like other people have suggested.
 
I remember reading a story not too long ago of some guy who was stuck on an island and had a wax buildup. For some reason, he had a certain amount of time before the wax buildup hurt his ears irrevocably and so he tried to 'douche' out his ears. What did he use though on an island? He used a super soaker.

Aha, I found it

A novel method for the removal of ear cerumen

[font=verdana,arial,helvetica] David A. Keegan* and Susan L. Bannister
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[/font] [font=verdana,arial,helvetica][size=-1] *Departments of Family Medicine and Paediatrics;
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Department of Pediatrics, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Ont. [/size][/font]

We describe the off-label use of a recreational device (the Super Soaker Max-D 5000) in the alleviation of a socially emergent ear condition.

A 45-year-old male complained of a profound reduction in his left ear acuity while staying at an island cottage in rural Ontario. His hearing loss was reducing his ability to hear his newborn son cry in the middle of the night, requiring his wife to carry out all late-night child care. As a result, correction of the problem was considered urgent.

The patient had been swimming multiple times a day for 6 days. He had had several ear infections as a child but was otherwise well. He admitted having used a Q-tip in his ear "once or twice" recently in the affected ear.

An otoscope being available, examination of the external ears was conducted. The nature of his problem was revealed as bilaterally impacted cement-like ear cerumen.

Neither a formal ear syringe, nor a syringe of any kind was available on the island. The day was very hot, and no one was particularly in the mood to boat to Honey Harbour and then drive 45 minutes to Midland, just on account of ear wax. One of the owners of the property was consulted in his capacity as a professional engineer and the owner of a superbly stocked tool shed (rivalling a mid-sized Canadian Tire). He was not able to offer any substitute contraption of his own but suggested we approach his 4-year-old grandson to see if we could use his pressured water cannon.



D.K. (a family and emergency physician) assessed the utility of the Super Soaker Max-D 5000. He was surprised to note that it was able to deliver a superbly pressured narrow stream of water equivalent to, or perhaps exceeding, the quality of that achieved with standard ear-syringing instruments. The owner of the Super Soaker Max-D 5000 was sought out; after hearing an explanation of its intended application, he granted permission for its use.

Verbal consent (covering risks and benefits) was obtained from the patient. He then changed into swimming shorts, located himself on an ideal location on the deck and held a Tupperware container (product number 1611-16) to the side of his neck, in lieu of a kidney basin. The Super Soaker Max-D 5000 was filled with body-temperature water and then mildly pressurized using the blue hand-pump. The trigger was depressed, releasing a gentle, narrow jet of water, which was then aimed along the posterior wall of the ear canal (Fig. 1). After approximately 15 seconds, the jet was aimed along the anterior wall. This cycle was repeated (with occasional repressurizing) until the Super Soaker was empty.

Midway through the second load's stream, wax particles began to run out of the ear. Just after starting the third load, a large plug of wax burst forth from the patient's ear. The 3 generations of family members present took turns admiring (or recoiling from) the specimen. The patient exclaimed in joy, "I can hear again!"

The entire process was repeated for the right ear. Otoscopy was repeated, revealing both tympanic membranes to be free of cerumen, intact and in excellent condition.

The patient later reported a resumption in his nighttime ability to hear his infant son crying, which led to his being able to promptly jump out of bed and attend to his son's needs, excluding breast-feeding. This return to normal enhanced the state of their marital bliss on this island location.

Comments: The clinician operator of the device was impressed by the Super Soaker's ease of use for this procedure. Specifically, the ability to control a narrow, mildly pressurized jet of water was considered excellent. As well, the device only had to be refilled once or twice before the cerumen was removed from each ear. This is in contrast to his experience of requiring up to 10 or more refills of standard ear-syringing equipment. Using the Super Soaker in standard practice could then lead to decreased overall time spent on this procedure, resulting in shorter waiting times for patients through increased physician efficiency.

A disadvantage to the Super Soaker was that the very useful blue hand-pump (used to pressurize the water) also prevented the device from getting close to the ear. This meant that the jet had to start approximately 5.0–7.5 cm from the patient, leading to significant backsplash toward the operator, and significant dousing of the patient (well in excess of that from the use of standard ear-syringing equipment). Any risk to the operator from this backsplash could be reduced in the future with the use of protective personal equipment, including a face-shield and gown.

We feel that prospective randomized trials are warranted to evaluate the utility of the Super Soaker Max-D 5000 in clinical settings.
Click to expand...
 
Have someone piss into your ear canal, the bacteria fighting properties for piss, mixed with an even heavy flow of warm soothing liquid is a triple threat.
 
I always have water draining out of my ears 15 minutes after I take a shower. Thats that happen to you guys?
 
go to a doctor, not a videogame message board. But seriously they will probably just flush your ears. You can even do it at home, its very easy.
 
i had the same problem with my right ear from 1997 up to 2005. i kept digging at it for 8 years and one day last year, a big piece of wax came out and i'm all cleared up. i mean big piece of wax. that thing is as big as a marble. my mom kept telling me to go to the doctor but i didn't want to. so i guess you can do it just like me. dig it with qtips and pull your ear. when i pulled my ear it kind of loosen the ear wax.
 
2003gt.jpg


If that doesn't work, see a Dr.

He'll likely fill a syringe with water and blast it out of your ear. And if you can't hear, you'll be stunned at how much there is.
 
Yes digging at it for 8 years is a good idea :roll: I say see a Doc it sounds serious. However don't forget to update us. We want picks of the softball size earwax that comes out of your ear.
 
Go to a hollistic (sp?) medicine store. They make candles that you put in your ear and burn. The burning creates a vacuum that sucks the wax out of your ear. You can even cut the candle open after the fact and look at all the crap that came out.
 
[quote name='markholladay']I would also suggest the doctor. It sounds pretty bad.

But if you really do not want to do that, buy an "ear candle" They sell them at health food stores. And they work really good. It is a thin wax funnel that you stick in your ear and light on one end, It slowly burns which creates a vacuum that sucks out the wax. Works really well. You need to use some oil afterwards because it leaves your ears dried out. But it will take out a ton of wax. It is almost freaky.[/QUOTE]

Do me a favor and not to slam on anyone... Light that same candle in a clear cup... See if that maricle of was doesnt show up from a clean cup... If and when it does thenc ome back and post your results... These dont work and they have been known to drip wax inside your ear canal and cause damage.
 
If you look around or ask a real doctor they suggest * I think White vinegar and ammonia * (let me find out before you do this) mixed at a 50/50 solution.

Best to just see a damn doctor though.
 
It may not, in fact, be wax buildup. It may be a swelling within, or compression of, your eustachian tubes that connect your middle ear to your throat.

This can create a vacuumlike effect, which pulls fluid into the middle ear space. The blockage prevents this fluid and other fluids, such as mucus, from draining from the middle ear.

I have had my eustachian tube swell on me back in 1998 and it has never been cleared up, nor has any amount of medical help assisted me (most was focused on the "Can you hear? Yes? Then off you go." variety).

Seven and a half years later and, while I've gotten used to it, the feeling of constant pressure is still there. However, there was one brief period where it mysteriously cleared up for about 2 days. It was like the OP described, an awakening. And then it went right back to crappy and has been that way ever since.
 
[quote name='Kayden']Go to a hollistic (sp?) medicine store. They make candles that you put in your ear and burn. The burning creates a vacuum that sucks the wax out of your ear. You can even cut the candle open after the fact and look at all the crap that came out.[/QUOTE]



DO THIS

It's a Native American method, and it works. It also only costs like $5 for the candle, which is a lot cheaper than medical help.
 
Earwax FTW. Sounds like that candle theory holds some water. I'd be afraid to suck the wax out of my ears though. I'd lose like 3 lbs.
 
After I shower, during which I gently clean my ears with my shampoo suds and then gently rinse, I make sure to dry my ears. I learned early on that if I didn't my wax build up would be crazy nasty. I dry my ears with just a tissue and my fingers. Put tissue over finger, insert into ear. Repeat until dry.

Also, a buddy of mine had a problem with hearing and he went to the doctor. The doctor fished out a bunch of caked in ear wax that was way down in his ear canal. He could never have reached it safely himself. And when I say fished out, it was like pulling hair of your drain. Not tiny little chunks of wax, but a big ol' nasty wad. Gross!

You probably should go to the doctor, also if you swim a lot you might want to invest in some ear plugs. Oh, and if you go to concerts or are exposed to other loud noises, wear ear plugs. I have to wear ear plugs every day for my job. It's not too bad AND you get the added benefit of an extra ear cleaning since there is almost always something stuck to those plugs when they come out of my ear. Mmmmm mmmmm.
 
[quote name='Blade']

DO THIS

It's a Native American method, and it works. It also only costs like $5 for the candle, which is a lot cheaper than medical help.[/QUOTE]

Um DON'T DO THIS. Ear candling is not only potentially dangerous, it is also completely bogus. It does not create a vacuum that pulls out the wax. The only wax you get is from the candle being burned. Complete waste of money and your time.

http://www.healthyhearing.com/library/article_content.asp?article_id=718
 
[quote name='lebowsky']Um DON'T DO THIS. Ear candling is not only potentially dangerous, it is also completely bogus. It does not create a vacuum that pulls out the wax. The only wax you get is from the candle being burned. Complete waste of money and your time.

http://www.healthyhearing.com/library/article_content.asp?article_id=718[/QUOTE]

After hearing that my english professor did it with his two children, both 4 and 7 respectively, I tried it. It worked for me, and I can hear things at 20500 rpms.
 
[quote name='evilmregg']Go to the doctor and have your ears flushed. It will be like having an orgasm in your head.[/QUOTE]

QFT. My ear was irritated a few months ago, and the doctor couldn't see inside, I suppose, so I got it cleaned out. turned out it wasn't ifnecte dor anything, it was all the wax.
 
Wow, I can't believe this topic exploded like it did!


[quote name='dude2003']i had the same problem with my right ear from 1997 up to 2005. i kept digging at it for 8 years and one day last year, a big piece of wax came out and i'm all cleared up. i mean big piece of wax. that thing is as big as a marble. my mom kept telling me to go to the doctor but i didn't want to. so i guess you can do it just like me. dig it with qtips and pull your ear. when i pulled my ear it kind of loosen the ear wax.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, but, the more you use a Q-Tip the deeper and deeper you push the ear wax; so, ironically enough, Q-Tips are probably one of the last things you should use.... After I had problems with this I went to the school nurse, and she told me not to use any of them (Q-Tips).


[quote name='Fanboy']Seven and a half years later and, while I've gotten used to it, the feeling of constant pressure is still there. However, there was one brief period where it mysteriously cleared up for about 2 days. It was like the OP described, an awakening. And then it went right back to crappy and has been that way ever since.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I was playing Morrowind and the out of the blue it sounded like my ear cleared up. BAM! All of the sudden I was super hearing. You could argue that I just wasn't used to it, but like me pissing into the toilet, water hitting the sink, etc... things like that sounded -really- loud. Oh, and I could hear my oven which is something I can never remember being able to do.

I'm optimistic that this happened (it was like a week ago) because it at least shows that my hearing isn't shot... probably just stuffed up in there.


[quote name='Darkside Hazuki']
2003gt.jpg


If that doesn't work, see a Dr. [/QUOTE]

Yeah, like I say, I've bought something like that twice... only, I've never actually used it correctly.

On the box, it tells you to use it two times a day for three days... at most, I've done half of that. It's just kind of boring laying on your side letting the wax sit in there. I still have a bottle of it laying around -- I'll give it another try.


So yeah... I can hear out of my left ear, no doubt about it. But, still, it's no where near as clear as my right ear. It's not so much that there's nothing I can hear, but rather that "ringing" noise that kind of interferes with what I'm trying to hear. Like I said earlier, the best way to describe it would be like gently running water from a faucet... but at a distance... it's not really a really "loud" sound, just kind of subtle-but-distracting.


Thanks for the advice. I'm gonna try that ear wax remover (the liquid in the bottles) again, and then possibly consult a doctor. I don't feel like paying $100 to have him flush my ears, though.
 
Take hydrogen preoxide, pour some in the bottle cap, tilt head sideways, and pour it in...wait for 5 - 10 min, untill the crackling slows down/stops, and move head back into normal position, with a towell in hand to get the wax/hydrogen peroxide...it works like a charm
 
It might be your sinuses pressing up against your ear drum.

Anyhoo I run hot water over a qtip before using it, works pretty well.
 
It's a better idea to prevent than to fix. With that in mind, it's a simple idea to do it during taking a shower. What I do is I set the showerhead on gentle stream and let a little water into the ear and then lean my head to pour out any water that has pooled. After the shower, your ear should still be damp enough to use a qtip. Gently, and I can't stress this enough, gently put it in your ear but not too far. If you have to force it even slightly, then you've gone too far. Gently it roll it around once in a twisting motion using your thumb & index finger and then switch to the other end of the qtip and use it in the same ear but in an opposite rolling motion from the initial one. Repeat the process again for the other ear. Works like a charm. My mom's a doctor who used to clean my ear once every 2 weeks using a metallic earwax scraper thing but after I started doing that after my showers, she looked in my ears and hasn't had to clean them often as much. I think the last time she clean my ears was about 11 years ago or so and when she did, there wasn't much wax to take since there was very little buildup thanks to my little method.
 
Wooooooo!

Jaykrue, I used your method of gently rotating Q-Tips in my ear... I did it a lot tonight, and I was very careful to be very gentile. Slowly but surely, wax started piling out of my ear!

I'm maybe 75% back to where I was the other night... In all likelihood, I'll wake up and it'll be crappy again... but since I'm now hearing a lot better twice in the last week or so, I think that I'm almost "over" this. Definitely gonna correctly use some ear drops, and I'll be good to go.

Thanks for the suggestions!


Sincerely,
He-who-hears-well-again
 
[quote name='WinnieThePujols']Yeah, but, the more you use a Q-Tip the deeper and deeper you push the ear wax; so, ironically enough, Q-Tips are probably one of the last things you should use.... After I had problems with this I went to the school nurse, and she told me not to use any of them (Q-Tips).[/QUOTE]

If you use a cotton swab to shove and dig at the wax, of course it's going to screw up. You're supposed to use it in conjunction with hydrodgen peroxide (H2O2) or water to try and liquify the wax. H2O2 works much better since it will seemingly dissolve the wax. Douse the tip, put it in your ear and let it sit there and dissolve the wax.
 
[quote name='Blade']After hearing that my english professor did it with his two children, both 4 and 7 respectively, I tried it. It worked for me, and I can hear things at 20500 rpms.[/QUOTE]

Why might be able to hear better is the fact that the heat from the candle melted the wax and allowed it to travel further down your canal.. The candle method is not the answer.
 
[quote name='Kayden']Go to a hollistic (sp?) medicine store. They make candles that you put in your ear and burn. The burning creates a vacuum that sucks the wax out of your ear. You can even cut the candle open after the fact and look at all the crap that came out.[/QUOTE]

Shit, I'd be afraid that my hair would catch fire if I lit one of those bitches in my ear. :lol:
 
[quote name='Kayden']Go to a hollistic (sp?) medicine store. They make candles that you put in your ear and burn. The burning creates a vacuum that sucks the wax out of your ear. You can even cut the candle open after the fact and look at all the crap that came out.[/QUOTE] Hmm, sounds familiar,

And about the ear candle not working. In my experience that is false. I had a friend that told me she tried one by just burning it in a cup, and it looked the same as when she put it in her ear.

I have been using ear candles for a few years. So I tried it out by also burning one in a cup. . And it was not the same at all. It was a completely different color and nowhere near the amount of wax than if I stick it in my ear.

The ear candles totally work. And work quite well. It is smart to put some oil back in your ear because it can dry it out.
 
I woke up today, and much to my surprise, it's still "good." Actually, I'd say it's "better..." Still not where I want it, though.

The left ear still feels really stuffed up. There's a noticable difference in the way they feel if I concentrate and "evaluate" the ear wax just by feel.

It does seem, however, that cleaning my left ear (that's the only one I did) somehow gave my right ear that super hearing I was describing earlier. So I'm hearing a lot better, but the left ear still needs work. Five treatments left with that ear wax, cross your fingers for me, please!
 
[quote name='Snake2715']Why might be able to hear better is the fact that the heat from the candle melted the wax and allowed it to travel further down your canal.. The candle method is not the answer.[/QUOTE]

Lol, if that's the case then the OP should do it as well. Then he too would exceed the human hearing range.
 
[quote name='Blade']Lol, if that's the case then the OP should do it as well. Then he too would exceed the human hearing range.[/QUOTE]

Yeah sometimes the melted wax allows you to hear better for the time... Other if you check the reports cause burned ear drums, worse hearing, blocked canals etc.

Do some research. You will see both sides of the info... Typically the ones for the candles also sell the candles... The unbiased sources tend to not sell for reasons other than profit.
 
[quote name='WinnieThePujols']Five treatments left with that ear wax, cross your fingers for me, please![/QUOTE]

You are flushing your ear with a bulb syringe afterward, right?
 
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