Safe Ways to Clean Ears?

What products are you using for cleaning your ears? I've heard about some stuff you spray in ear and it melts the wax away or something. Is this safe considering tinnitus? I heard q-tips aren't too good either, so I don't know what I should use...

 

Olive oil drops work well for me...
Never stick buds or anything in your ears too....lots of love glynis

 

Unless you have obstructive earwax, you don't really need to clean your ears -- earwax is, basically, a self-cleaning, self-protecting mechanism that keeps sensitive tissues from being exposed, and actually has antibiotic mechanisms which probably help prevent infection.

If you have to clean it because you have a truly excessive amount, try this stuff: http://www.murine.com/ -- I have used it in the past.

@glynis 's suggestion is good, too -- just be careful to use a high grade olive oil that is sterile, I wouldn't just dump cooking oil in there if you can avoid it. For instance: http://www.amazon.co.uk/ACULIFE-REMOVAL-SYRINGE-MEDICAL-GRADE/dp/B008V9T1T8

 

Oh interesting! My dad is olive oil fanatic and we have plenty of that stuff around the house How you use it? Just pour some in ear and after some time try to get most of it out?

 

Use some from the chemist that is sterile that comes with a applicator too.
Just a little in the ear once a week works wonders but for wax build up use it daily for a week then reduce it .
It will find its own way out so no poking your ears....lots of love glynis

 

Okay, so normal grocery store oil won't do then thanks glynis

 

That's interesting, I've always thought you have to keep them as clean as possible. Thanks for the links, I'll try to see if my local chemist has similar stuff.

 

if you're going to do this with cooking grade, I would at a minimum do the following:
completely sterilize a small container/shot glass
heat some oil to ~275 degrees F (it will not combust below ~320 F)
pour oil into sterile container, cover, allow to cool

if you just do it straight out of the bottle, you might introduce unwanted bacteria into the area. To be fair, I have done this with unsterile cooking oil and it didn't kill me, but...

 

Just my personal experience: I always have been a person who builds an extraordinary amount of wax, to the point my ears can become impacted. Sigh. Thanks, ears.

Over the years, I have learned that cleaning out a major amount of wax is a job for professionals. And by that, I mean ENTs, not primary docs. I have been prescribed caustic chemicals for self cleaning that burned my ears. I have had docs run little vacuum pipes in there, which can damage your hearing. I had tried syringing on my own ears, which also can screw up your hearing and damage your ear drum.

What I do now: Twice a year, I go into my ENT, whom I trust and like. He cleans out the gunk with hand instruments, no suction. It's routine maintenance for my ears, like changing the oil in my car.

Even if you don't have an ongoing problem like me: if you start getting the feeling that your ears are getting a little filled up with wax, take care of it immediately. Don't keep jamming a q-tip down there. It will make it worse.
Impacted wax can harden and then you really have a mess on your hands. They have to dynamite it out. (Just kidding. But it sure does feel like it when they have to chip out a major impaction).

 

Hi try sodium bicarbonate ear drops they work very well for me I did suffer terribly from wax due to wearing hearing aids, most of the day,but my ENT nurse put me on to them as I tried everything and not even olive oil was any good but SB eardrops dissolve the wax in my case. I use two to three drops in each ear once a week, works a treat, SB drops can be prescribed from your GP

 

@LadyDi , huh you have tried a lot of stuff. Good that you have working method for your wax issues I've kinda gotten the idea that normal doctors are useless with ear problems. Some people have even gotten tinnitus from syringing on this forum

@RAY thanks for advice!

 

Kinda off the mark, but when I was younger and had ache in my ears, probably I had an ear infection coming, my dad used to put wheat-grass juice in my ear and it stopped the ache Wasn't probably even sterile or anything, but I didn't get any horrible side effects from it. From desperation I even tried it when i got tinnitus but it didn't work this time, I guess even the mighty grass juice can't cure all problems