Best way to clean ears?

von Neumann

what's the best way to clean your ears?

I've always heard the saying "never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear."

I give mine a quick rub with a piece of tissue every day and there always stuff, is this normal?

Is there a better way to clean them?

Cully

You can buy this candle thing which apparently sorts it out... Chinese shops or something , but I don't trust them.

Best way I've found is to let the showerhead (on normal.. not high pressure) just *rinse* your ear... do it every time you take a shower and it should be fine... If you let it build up in your ear, there'll be regular buildup...

Obviously you're not supposed to use those cotton buds, but I dont' see a problem as long as you are careful and only use it on the outer canal.

Passenger

Aye, Cotton Buds should be fine once you're careful.

Clytus

you can buy that horrible ear cleaning solution from boots. Basically its like power hosing your ear...

I personally hate it...but keeps your ear pretty clean.

Aidric

I always use cotton buds and they do the job just fine.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Ok, I've asked my consultant this one as I'm attending the ENT clinic in Beaumont Hospital (I've had two ear op's in the last three years).

He told me just to use cotton buds, use some common sense, be careful and don't be tempted to go right to the drum (even the gentlest touch against your ear drum and you'll know about it).

Don't go putting things like pens (a guy beside me in work does this all the time - fvcking disgusting), tooth picks, hair clips and other hard objects in there and you should be fine.

cendant

don't use cotton buds!!! it is dangerous

the boots stuff is terrible indeed - does not clean well and can cause inflamation

The simplest and safest way to clean ears is to put several drop of (NOT mineral) oil in them. Lie down with the ear up for about 15-20 minutes. You will lose hearing but do not worry - the oil will run out by itself later.

Repeat with other ear.

The wax will become loose and run out with the oil.

Fresh olive oil, peanut oil, grapeseed oil (saw it in Tesco) will do fine. Do not use sunflower oil - it is not effective.

Just do not force it - ears are delicate

redshoulder

Use olive oil or audiclean, which is available in Boots.

TheLoc

Hi all. I've had 5 opperations on my right ear. Had to go to Paris for them. I was given oflocet. this is basically a water solution with some added minerals. extremely clean stuff. You put about 4 drops in your ear and cover it with cotton wool. leave it in there for about 5-10 minutes and then take the cotton wool out. You will see all that crap on the cotton wool. it's horrible. it's amazing stuff though. it delicatly cleans the inside of your ear. for the outside just use cotton buds.

BostonB

What did people do before there were ear buds and fancy stuff in Boots.

Overheal

the chewing action in your jaw is meant to break up ear wax and assist it in flowing out of your ear canal. thats the way its worked for thousands of years. if your going to use a cotton swab you should really only clean the exterior and the outter most chamber.

BostonB

Theres obviously exceptions for whom this doesn't work.

slx

Audiclean works very well, the stuff that boots sell is absolutely horrible, I certainly wouldn't use it again. It is like powerhosing your ears!

In general, you shouldn't need to clean your ears out on a regular basis. Ear wax is not a problem unless it's actually blocking your ear canal and you can't hear properly.

Ear wax is produced to push dirt, dead cells etc out of your ear canal. It basically moves slowly out of your ear, trapping anything that shouldn't be there. It also has anti-bacterial, anti-viral and other properties e.g. it's highly repellant to insects!

Overall, I would suggest just cleaning the outside of your ear with a damp face cloth. Don't get too caught up in cleaning the canal, if it's becoming blocked regularly - you can soften the wax with olive oil (from a pharmacy, not the cooking type!). Just put a couple of drops into your ear and let it work - after a few days the wax will soften substantially.

Generally it's not advised to use cotton buds as you can push wax further into the ear canal and create a big plug of the stuff at the bottom near your ear drum. Or, in the worst case scenario if you're too rough with the bud, you might burst your ear drum. This is more of a risk where a parent tries to clean a kids ear, as they do not know when they're near the ear drum. If you're cleaning your own ear, you can generally feel if the cotton bud is going too far.

Also, remember that the membranes inside your ear canal are very sensitive to friction and can become quite swollen and sore etc if they're irritated by agressive cleaning.

You can also introduce harmful bacteria into the canal by probing it with a cotton bud or anything that isn't 100% sterile.

In general, the rule is don't put anything smaller than your elbow into your ear canal!!

destroyer

Steep in petrol or diesel weekly

Never use wd40