Blocked ears

[Toffee]

Just had this problem myself. Use the drops to soften the wax, I did it for nearly two weeks, then I used one of the bulbs to squirt warm water into my ears. I was absolutely amazed how much wax came out. It took about 4 goes with the bulb on each ear before all the wax was out.

[jimlews]

Lying in a hot bath with ears below the surface (and full of water) is good for loosening wax.

But I now only bathe once a year; whether I need it or not.

[Oldjohnw]

I have a more unusual version of this. It comes and goes depending on whether or not I want to hear something.

[Tangled Metal]

I get painful ears on one side when I'm lying on it when I wake up. It kind of builds up the pressure. I find a very hot shower helps but also use bicarbonate drops.

I had a very nasty bug about 10 years ago that left me blacking out and perforated my ear drum in one ear. The pain was severe due to the pressure on the drum. After one side perforated I was in a state of bliss due to the relief from pain in just the one ear. I was on holiday too and a few days from doing a challenge event that I wasn't sure a fit version of me could do.

An emergency appointment with the local gp during his lunch break, I'm still grateful for that because most GPs wouldn't do that IME. He gave me ABs prescription and it improved after every time I woke up in the morning. I also completed the challenge event too so very happy but in pain from the event!!!

Anyway, I'm very nervous about doing anything to my ears as I don't know what the long term implications of the damage the perforation caused. I've been tested and hearing is ok but I fear it's a weak drum now.

My view is those drops, pharmacist will give you the best advice on which to use, and frequent very hot showers until it gets better.

Having said that we had fun at work when someone gave a colleague a hopping ear candle iirc to use. After just 5 minutes use we rolled it open and you could see how it sucked so much gunk out of the ear. There was a kind of chromatography style tide line. Nasty looking but clearly was doing something. Have no idea what it did but she had ear problems with wax and said it helped.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Tried all the ear drops even the ones prescribed by GP pre syringe job by the nurse.
They just gum up the ears I find.
The 2nd time the nurse (bloody incompetent) did not check the water was warm, and had ear ache for two weeks

Whilst in the shower turn the heat up till its almost too hot to stand on your face and direct at a distance to the ear, and listen to the water as a jet sounds loud for 10 seconds or so, and swap ears, repeat once say.

I get sweat in my ears and do this every shower.

[RH20]

Many years ago I had a problems with wax in the ears. Thought it might be job related, ( working in a very dusty, dirty environment). Showered every day at work. Had my ears syringed in the works medical room almost on a yearly basis. After the job finished I had to have my ears syringed at my GP clinic. The practice nurse suggested always use earplugs when showering/swimming, as water in the ears can affect a build up of wax. After years of following this advice I hardly have this problem. Probably only had to have my ears syringed twice in the last twenty years.

[Sweep]

Hi,
Tried all the ear drops even the ones prescribed by GP pre syringe job by the nurse.
They just gum up the ears I find.
The 2nd time the nurse (bloody incompetent) did not check the water was warm, and had ear ache for two weeks

Whilst in the shower turn the heat up till its almost too hot to stand on your face and direct at a distance to the ear, and listen to the water as a jet sounds loud for 10 seconds or so, and swap ears, repeat once say.

I get sweat in my ears and do this every shower.

Is standing on your face part of the treatment?

[Tangled Metal]

A speech therapist friend once had a client whose mother told told my friend about her kid's ear problems. Apparently he loved swimming but could never be allowed to get water in his ears. Three ENT specialist treating the kid told his mother to use a big blob of blue tack. Apparently it was the only easy to guarantee a seal and you could always get it out with another, bigger piece of bluetack.

That therapist friend used to use bluetack when wildcamping if the rain, wind or snoring of fellow campers kept her awake. Never had issues in the 5 years since she first tried it.

If water from showering causes earwax build up then blue tack could be a solution. I am not a medical professional, I doubt any of us are, so I make no recommendation for this and accept no liability should you choose to try it without consulting a professional who has liability cover should their advice be faulty. Disclaimer over with.

PS I wonder if any amateur, internet adviser has been sued successfully after giving advice that caused issues, harm or damage to someone following it? Perhaps forum sites should make it part of the terms and conditions of use that all posts are not actionable in any way. Interesting idea about the legal position of advice given in good faith by posters on forums.

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,

Hi,
Tried all the ear drops even the ones prescribed by GP pre syringe job by the nurse.
They just gum up the ears I find.
The 2nd time the nurse (bloody incompetent) did not check the water was warm, and had ear ache for two weeks

Whilst in the shower turn the heat up till its almost too hot to stand on your face, and direct at a distance to the ear, and listen to the water as a jet sounds loud for 10 seconds or so, and swap ears, repeat once say.

I get sweat in my ears and do this every shower.

Is standing on your face part of the treatment?

Bad punctuation
Sorry.

[jimlews]

PS I wonder if any amateur, internet adviser has been sued successfully after giving advice that caused issues, harm or damage to someone following it? Perhaps forum sites should make it part of the terms and conditions of use that all posts are not actionable in any way. Interesting idea about the legal position of advice given in good faith by posters on forums.

If so, likely to have been in the land of the fee. The good old US of A

[Sweep]

Bad punctuation
Sorry.

No probs, a bit of levity from me in these sad times.

[Jdsk]

Perhaps forum sites should make it part of the terms and conditions of use that all posts are not actionable in any way. Interesting idea about the legal position of advice given in good faith by posters on forums.

You can't overrule the law of the land in terms and conditions.

People running web sites now usually have codes of conduct which appear to be holding up well. They include things like policies for removing posts in breach soon after being notified and removing persistent offenders. "Good faith" is important.

Defamation is a different matter, and IMHO we should make it clear that website operators are publishers, whatever they think. In England there are now specific laws on what operators must do eg after notification.

Jonathan

[alexnharvey]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/normal/2016/ ... pr-consent

I wouldn't recommend doing it to anyone else.

[morzov]

Brilliant! It worked for me

My left ear has been blocked since lockdown.

Stuck it in a red hot shower this morning and it's just cleared

Thanks

[Cyril Haearn]

Went to the doc to get my ears rinsed out
'They are blocked, treat them with olive oil, come back in a couple of days'
Right ear is clear now after a second treatment, still oiling the left one, going again next week, a third time
Doc is only 300 m from home