ear wax

[thalbergmad]

Yes, not a nice subject but i have been deaf for 4 days in both ears, after a horrid dose of the flu.

The doctor says i have to put olive oil in my ears for 1 week and then have them syringed.

Olive oil in the ears sounds a bit strange to me, so does anyone here have any better ideas?? (sensible ones that is)

Thanks in advance.

Thal

[pianistimo]

i tried that method on my kids when they had severe ear aches and it worked wonders (and takes the pain away too).  and, you're not scared you'll lose your hearing over this treatment.  just slightly heat the oil (not boiling or anything) and it really will make you feel better.  do what the doc says.  no ear surgery ok.

ps just a very small amount (1/4 tsp at the most) not 1/2 the bottle or anything.

[thalbergmad]

I will give it a go.

I woz thinking of diving down to the bottom of the Swimming pool, in the hope that the water pressure will blow the wax out. Or, i could always try the jet wash where i take my car.

Being temporarily deaf does have its advantages. I have not answered the phone at work for 2 days, which means that the fat cow i work for has to do some work for once, as opposed to sending text messages and looking at her ugly face in her make up mirror.

These things are sent to test us.

Thal

[Kassaa]

At the ear shop (dunno how that's called in English) you can buy a spray which cleans ear wax. You put the spray at the opening of yer ear, and then you spray. The ear wax is just gone after a while.  I use it too it really helps.

[thalbergmad]

That sounds a little potent to me.

Wot is this stuff called?

Thal

[Kassaa]

It's called Audispray here, but there are probably loads of other brands. As far as I believe, it isn't dangerous. The spraying is not very hard. You spray in an ear for a second, massage it for 10 seconds and then turn your head so the overload drips out of yer ear. I sometimes use it before I go to bed, after a while it gets a bit greasy at the opening of your ear, but when I wake the next morning my ear is perfectly clean.

[berrt]

That sounds a little potent to me.

Wot is this stuff called?

Thal

Dynamite
B.

[jas]

That happened to me when I was younger. I went to the doc and he told me the same thing, but I used my dad's expensive extra extra extra virgin olive oil. He looked as though he'd just lost his firstborn. So if you're going to use oil, use your cheapo Tesco Value stuff and warm it up a bit first.

The point of the oil is that it softens the wax and makes it easier to syringe. Apparently it's more difficult and more painful if it's too hard. Dunno how effective those spray things are but it's pretty safe to say that getting a nurse to syringe it will be much quicker and more effective.

I can sympathise with the being deaf thing. It's horrible, it feels like your head's stuffed with cotton wool.

Jas

[timothy42b]

That is a really horrible feeling.  I get it periodically when the wax builds up.

I have been to the doctor and had it professionally irrigated, and I've done it myself.

You have to soften it with the drops.  I've used the special ear drops, also tried plain hydrogen peroxide, and olive oil.  They all seem to work, in about that order of effectiveness, but the olive oil is less irritating.

The bulb syringe they give you with the ear wax kits is useless.  The doctor uses something like a big cardiac syringe, and that works, but is a pain to use.  Best in my experience is an ordinary household sprayer, one that you can adjust either to mist or stream.  Use stream of course.  I try to aim for the same spot the doctor hits, you can feel and hear the difference after it's been done once. 

It will recur of course, your body makes too much wax for some reason. 

[deja vu]

in china, the ear-wax man goes from door to door asking if ppl want their ears cleaning out

just get them syringed, mate

[pianolearner]

Yes, not a nice subject but i have been deaf for 4 days in both ears, after a horrid dose of the flu.

The doctor says i have to put olive oil in my ears for 1 week and then have them syringed.

Olive oil in the ears sounds a bit strange to me, so does anyone here have any better ideas?? (sensible ones that is)

Thanks in advance.

Thal

What a coincidence (sort of). I have an ear infection in my right ear (Swimmers ear I think it's called) and yellow fluid has been oozing out and it is completely blocked. As for Olive oil, I swear by it - FANTASTIC, but DO NOT HAVE YOUR EAR SYRINGED AND DO NOT USE COTTON BUDS, this can damage your eardrum. You are in England aren't you? I use an olive oil I bought from Superdrug. I don't know if it's different to ordinary olive oil but it works. Buy an eyedropper as well.

Pour about a teaspoonful of olive oil into a glass and rest it in warm water. This will gently heat the olive oil to body temperature, which is recommended. Tilt your head to the side and put a few drops in one ear. Put a wad of cotton wool in to stop it running out. After a few days the wax will come out naturally. DO NOT HAVE YOUR EAR SYRINGED. When one ear is unblocked, do the other ear. DO NOT HAVE YOUR EAR SYRINGED AND DO NOT USE COTTON BUDS.

[thalbergmad]

I use Tesco's olive oil, perhaps that is where i have gone wrong.

Did not think of putting in cotton wool. Great idea.

Thanks

Thal

[stevie]

eat it

[sklebil]

Poor you  Also happened to me once...when I was on holiday. But doctors in beach resorts are proficient in ear-syringing
However I agree that if you can avoid syringing, avoid it. It can damage your hearing irreversibly. It is supposed to be very rare, but when it happens you don't really care whether you are a rare or common case....
I have a collegue who adviced me a recipe that his frineds, proffesional divers use:
Ethanol+ Boric acid, but I don't know the concentrations. You can ask however in the pharmacy, they will probably have experience with mixing ear
drops...

Here in germany one of the commercial products contains in 10mL:
0.5g docusate sodium (= dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate)
Ethanol 1.5g of 96%
1g of  85% glycerol
Again they shlould be able to mix this for  for you in your pharmacy.

There are also versions with soda.

Olive oil is supposed to help only in mild cases. When your ear wax is very hard, it will probably not help.

Good luck.