Ear Wax Removal

[Ann C.]

I went to the doctor's today, and sure enough, I had a lot of wax in my left ear, which is where the tinnitus seems worse. I had already tried softening it myself a few times, so she was able to scrape most of it out. She told me that there's another chunk in there that she couldn't scrape out without making my ear bleed, so she stopped. She suggested that I irrigate it to flush the rest out.

I have a can of pressurized saline that came with my ear wax removal kit, but it didn't do a thing. Any advice on how to remove the remaining pieces of wax from my ear?

I'm crossing my fingers that this will stop the ringing.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[dboy]

Personally I wouldn't consider irrigation. It has caused problems for lots of folks, me included. I think if the doc got some out then it is worth just persevering with putting olive oil in now to soften it up and let it come out on its own. I find olive oil much more effective if the wax is not blocking the ear canal. If the canal is blocked then the olive oil cannot get in around it to soften it up so well. I do think patience is best, to not risk further problems.

 

[Ann C.]

Thank you. I did a search and saw that many people have had problems with irrigation. I'll take your advice an avoid it for now.

I've also read that hydrogen peroxide can help speed the process. Any cautions about trying this method?

 

[dboy]

I tried that stuff once. It caused me a spike, but a temporary one that went away after a couple of weeks or so. I think it just irritated the skin on my ear drum. I am a particularly sensitive poppet though, at least where my ears are concerned. You might have better luck. My thinking is that olive oil is good for skin, so I'm sticking to that from now on for myself. Good luck, whatever you decide.

P.S. I was told by one doctor (best GP I ever had) to use olive oil regularly every week or two to keep the wax loose and moving, since I seem to produce tons of the stuff. I try to follow that advice now, and no longer get blocked.

 

[Richard zurowski]

Olive oil for a few days is the safest methed . After a few days it just dissolve the wax.

 

[Mad maggot]

When I was a child and had trouble from getting water in my ears when swimming my father used to put hydrogen peroxide in my ears and it always worked well. However I didn't have any other problems such as T and in those days it was readily available at the chemist and used often. Nowadays I think people are more cautious with it. Id try the other suggestions here first.

 

[Ann C.]

Thank you for the advice! I'll proceed cautiously.

So far, the ear wax removal hasn't stopped the T in my left ear, but I can ignore it most of the time. My doctor also gave me a prescription for Prednisone; it's just five tablet so I'm not sure if it's enough to help. If it continues, I think I'll make an appointment with a ENT doctor to see if he or she can help.