earwax causing deafness

LegacyUser

I've been to the doc recently and she checked my ears and said there was an awful lot of wax in them and that I should get them syringed.
People told me that once I get my ears syringed, I'll always need to get them done. Is this true?
I got ear drops to see if they would work, but the liquid just seeped out onto the cotton ball overnight, even though I had my head to 1 side for an hour after I put the drops in!
I have been using earplugs for the last few months and I think this may have contributed to the problem..?
I have been saying "sorry, I didnt quite catch that" to people more often in the last few weeks... I need to do something about it.,

Esel

Why didn't you get them done there and then with the doctor? It is a very simple procedure. Always needing to get them done sounds like an old wives' tale to me.

You can buy a spray (Aquaclean/Aquaclear?) in the chemist for €10. Might be worth a try.

Victor

Did the doctor do an audiogram (a hearing test)?

What are you using the ear plugs for? Are you washing / changing them regularly?

People told me that once I get my ears syringed, I'll always need to get them done.

Sounds mad - "once I get a bed bath from the nurse, I'll never be able to have a shower again"!

Sarn

kelly22 wrote:

People told me that once I get my ears syringed, I'll always need to get them done. Is this true?

I first got my ears syringed about 11 years ago, had to get it done a year or two later. I haven't had to have it done since. No reoccurence and I haven't had a problem since.

Like yourself it was pretty bad at the time, waking up deaf in the morning etc. Get it done, the difference is unbelievable, I was shocked at the difference it made, everything was so echoey and clear. Do not get this done if you have perforated ear drums.

Zaph

kelly22 wrote:

People told me that once I get my ears syringed, I'll always need to get them done. Is this true?

I had my ears syringed when I was about 6 or 7. Have gone 30 years since without needing to have it done again, so I'd discount the theory that you'll have to get them done repeatedly.

alantc

I've been needing mine syringed for the last few years, need it now at the moment too. Last time I went to the nurse, she sent me away to put olive oil in my ear for a few days before coming back. This helps loosen the wax from the side oof your ear canal. Apparantly if you just keep putting olive oil in it mayclear itself, esp if there isn't much wax. I've been doing it the last few days and have bits falling out.

Don't try to use cotton buds, the wax is too far in, your skin is too sensitive in your ear and the bud will just push the wax further in.

http://www.medinfo.co.uk/conditions/earwax.html


If you haven't gotten your ear syringed before its not at all bad. They just squirt warm water into your ear. It feels a bit weird but not bad.

Talliesin

kelly22 wrote:

People told me that once I get my ears syringed, I'll always need to get them done. Is this true?

A misunderstanding of causality. Some people need to get it done regularly, therefore in their experience after the first time they had it done they've kept needing to get it done and the mistakenly blame this on the first procedure.

In short, it's BS.

Esel

esel wrote:

...You can buy a spray (Aquaclean/Aquaclear?) in the chemist for €10. Might be worth a try.

Audiclean is the name.

nesf

Talliesin wrote:

A misunderstanding of causality. Some people need to get it done regularly, therefore in their experience after the first time they had it done they've kept needing to get it done and the mistakenly blame this on the first procedure.

In short, it's BS.

Agreed. My dad has had to get his ears done every 2 years or so for the past 10 years. And he's a big of a freak about cleaning his ears, so it's just bad luck I guess. I needed it done once 5 years ago but have been grand since.

It's not a nice treatment, feels slightly odd/uncomfortable but it's definitely worth getting. Not getting it done is just a bad idea.

Oh and go to your doctor!!!!

Edit: Ear Candelling is an alternative therapy that is a lot more comfortable. It consists of a special beeswax candle beign placed in your ear and it being lit. It soaks up all the wax out of the ear. You don't feel a thing while it's being done.

Tis a tad expensive though, the candles themselves aren't cheap.

newgrange

Ear candling is a cod. It's a hoax - the 'stuff' that comes out is actually from the candle itself, not the person's ear.

Syringing is not comfortable, but it's not painful either, unless the wax has become impacted. The sensation of being able to hear what seems like everything within a 2 mile radius afterwards is very odd.

The standard rule of not putting anything smaller than your little finger in your ear applies. Cotton buds cause more harm than good.

nesf

newgrange wrote:

Ear candling is a cod. It's a hoax - the 'stuff' that comes out is actually from the candle itself, not the person's ear.

Um. I've had it done and it had the exact same effect as me getting my ears syringed. And I'm a skeptical bastard. Also it was recommended by a GP to me.

So, eh, no.

newgrange wrote:

Cotton buds cause more harm than good.

lol.

Same as how baths are the source of colds and flus yeah?

newgrange

I would love to know what doctor recommended it:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/iyh/medical/candling.html

How do they explain that following treatment or letting the 'candle' just burn down itself, the results are the same?

Even the manufacturers of cotton buds say inserting them in ear canals should be avoided, but they probably have no idea either, I suppose.

nesf

newgrange wrote:

I would love to know what doctor recommended it:
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/iyh/medical/candling.html

How do they explain that following treatment or letting the 'candle' just burn down itself, the results are the same?

There is a "fad" of ear candling atm. It's done by people to themselves who have no idea what they are doing and what precautions to take. Also the "candles" sold in most of the US "health" stores are a joke.

Like most holistic or alternative treatments it's been turned into a mess by people looking to make some easy and quick cash off innocent and trusting gulliable people.

Some people's hearing improves after the treatment when it is properly given etc. It's only dangerous if it's misued or the person doing it has no idea what they are doing.

Next you'll be telling me that accupunture is a hoax

Edit: I probably should add that I do feel that complimentary therapies should be to some extent regulated and hoax therapists and therapies sniffed out and struck off the register.

For quite a few therapies all there is in support and opposition is anecdotal evidence. Tests on samples of less than 10 people etc. If you can put a proper medical peer reviewed study or test in front of my face showing clearly that it has no benificial effect then I'll tend to agree with you. Show me two and I'll agree even more. But as any doctor/statician could tell you, medical research and studies are at best rough correlations and depend totally on the impartiability and ability of the people conducting the study.

One "skeptic" trying out the therapy does not do anything in my eyes. Neither does one "healer" claiming about all the people that have benifitted. I'll go from personal experience on what I've seen before I'd consider what they say.

I'm as skeptical about "medical opinion" as I am about complimentary therapies.

newgrange wrote:

Even the manufacturers of cotton buds say inserting them in ear canals should be avoided, but they probably have no idea either, I suppose.

No, but most people I know don't dig the cotton buds into their ear canals. They clean the outside of the ear with them and maybe the inner lip.

My point was that when they are misued they are damaging but when they are used properly they are fine. Just like nearly everything else in this world.

annR

I've had mine syringed, it's the best way for cleaning them out, and I've also been asked to put some olive oil in there before hand to loosen it. If you have some kind of little dropper thing it's perfect.

Do not stick anything in your ears.

Victor

nesf wrote:

I'm as skeptical about "medical opinion" as I am about complimentary therapies.

I was talking last week to a just qualified doctor. He said he was doing his psych exam the next day - the one where they check whether he is suitable to be a doctor.

He said that most people who sue doctor do so because of the way they were treated as people, not how they were treated as patients.

nesf

Victor wrote:

I was talking last week to a just qualified doctor. He said he was doing his psych exam the next day - the one where they check whether he is suitable to be a doctor.

He said that most people who sue doctor do so because of the way they were treated as people, not how they were treated as patients.

Yeah, personally I've not been big on the whole suing doctors thing. They are doing the best they can and by the very nature of the profession can't be right all the time.

Although a good "bedside manner" seems to be lacking in some medical professionals. Generally the ones who are horribly overworked and over stressed. There is however, a small handful of people doing the job that should never have been left qualify.

I wasn't dismissing a doctor's opinion on something. I just take it with a "pinch of salt" when I read it online. Maybe it's just my background in science but I like to be linked to the results of the studies that a doctor is basing his opinion on if possible.

I'm just against the whole "a doctor's opinion is gospel" style of thinking. They are human, and just as likely to make mistakes as the rest of us.

rugbug86

ive had to have my ears syringed a few times, it doesnt hurt. it just powers water into your ear to clean it. the sensation is a bit strange but hearing afterwards is brill. ive been asked to put olive oil in too, (by the college doc) but my gp just does it straight off.

in my experiences audiclean doesnt work to clear wax plugs, it only works to clean the ear.

Gordon

I've had my ears syringed a few times but as Talliesen says it's most likely not that fact that if one is syringed once one will have to be syringed many times. The first time I had an ear problem was very painful and deafening and I didn't go to the doctor but suffered alone for a few months.

It wasn't until a few years later that I had another problem and got syringed and it was a great experience, truly liberating! Not only could I hear but the pain immediately disappeared. Getting your ears syringed isn't a big deal if you get it done by a professional.

Dreamcatcher

rugbug86 wrote:

ive had to have my ears syringed a few times, it doesnt hurt. it just powers water into your ear to clean it. the sensation is a bit strange but hearing afterwards is brill.

Rugbear, did you have it done by your regular gp, or were you referred to somewhere else?

rugbug86

regular gp did it in a little room in the surgery and in college the nurse does it. most gp's do it themselves though.

Tobias Greeshman

If you are going to get your ears syringed make sure you get some drops to put in your ear to soften the wax. While warm Olive Oil does work good, you can get proper dops off the chemist that is designed to soften the ear wax! If you dont then it will be a little painful getting them syringed. I've had mine syringed twice about 4 years apart, so I dont think its true that you once you get them done once you'll always have to have them syringed.

Swarfboy

What.. what's dat.. ya say ...??
Have been like this for my whole life.. Sure I get syringed and within weeks the wax build up is back... Have been syringed (ears that is) for the last 30 years.. about 10 times in total... I go completely deaf..no kidding...it has been dangerous in the past... Anyway syringing of the ears is great and will instantly put a smile on your face..It also relieves the migranes I get..
Waxy ears have caused so much hassle as 1) I start to shout at people 2) I get headaches from it 3) Get iritable and shout louder at people .
Although I have gone the last 4 yrs without syringing.
Just loosen the wax regular... especially coming to the end of the summer as I always tend to think it hardens around then...
Make sure you dry your ears after a swim also.

Colly

I have had wax build up also and have found the suana good at keeping it at bay. Ear drops have worked kinda anyway and i think they work on the principle of heat and melting the wax into a fluid so it flows out so that would i guess explain how the heat of the sauna helps enough to keep it down anyway and give your ears a chance to keep the ear ways clear.