Fighting the ear wax

dsmythy

Couldn't really find anywhere to ask this question. Hardly a personal issue and biology/medicine has got to be over my head. So here I am.

Anyway i always have build ups of wax in my ear and i'm getting to the point of part deafness again. But i don't fancy forking out 50 big ones to see a doctor and get it syringed. Can anyone recommend good ear drops that can loosen up and get rid of the dastardly wax? Cheers for any options!


And if there is a forum out there you think this would fit into then move away.

Ruu_Old

Hydrogen peroxide is good, leave it in for a few seconds (it'll sound like bubbles bursting in your ear) but does a good job. Don't use it too often though. I don't know much about syrining.

Dizzyblonde

Audispray is easier to use than drops.

stepbar

dsmythy wrote: »

Couldn't really find anywhere to ask this question. Hardly a personal issue and biology/medicine has got to be over my head. So here I am.

Anyway i always have build ups of wax in my ear and i'm getting to the point of part deafness again. But i don't fancy forking out 50 big ones to see a doctor and get it syringed. Can anyone recommend good ear drops that can loosen up and get rid of the dastardly wax? Cheers for any options!


And if there is a forum out there you think this would fit into then move away.

How about cleaning your ears with cotton buds every so often? :rolleyes:

Karoma

Moved to Biology/medicine. Tallaght01 knows the boundaries; PI would just close it. AH is not an option... you might be that one person to believe sulphuric acid is the right way forwards...

dsmythy

stepbar wrote: »

How about cleaning your ears with cotton buds every so often? :rolleyes:

Is that not supposed to be a bad thing to do?

stepbar

dsmythy wrote: »

Is that not supposed to be a bad thing to do?

FFS :rolleyes:

thehomeofDob

Tis true tho, cotten buds generally just pack the ear wax in while taking some of it away. Best thing to do is use warm/hot olive oil, loosens things up pretty well. It is a bit messy tho, drape a towel over your shoulder.

2Scoops

This is straying into murky waters - I hope no one advocates potentially harmful advice...

Visiting a doctor or nurse to get rid of the wax to start with is the safest option. I recommend against using H2O2 because of the potential for burns. Drops in general will probably not work on their own on an almost completely occluded ear canal (they only 'loosen' the wax, at best).

Using Q-Tips to excavate the wax will work - but it's risky! One slip and you could potentially injure your eardrum. That said, you'd have to be quite clumsy for this to happen.

Importantly, once the wax is gone, you will have to change your approach to cleaning your ears because what you're doing now is obviously not working!

2Scoops

dsmythy wrote: »

Is that not supposed to be a bad thing to do?

AFAIK, this idea is spread simply to protect clumsy people from themselves.

tallaght01

cheers karoma.

Happy to take it over here.

However, I'm going to lock the thread for now.

We don't know for sure that it's wax causing the OPs "partial deafness". Looks like it's a self diagnosis in this case.

If it's been diagnosed as a wax problem, then I'll re-open and we can discuss the merits of the various over the counter stuff (though I'd definitely agree with 2scoops that hydrogen peroxide be avoided).

If the partial deafness hasn't been identified by a medical professional as a being caused by a build up of wax, then that's something you really need to get seen by your GP.

So, OP, feel free to PM if you want me to re-open, or if you want to discuss anything about the thread. But I'll only re-open it on condition that you've already seen a doctor.

Hope that's ok with you.