Ear Wax

[peacock2121]

My dad has had 'a hearing problem' for some time. He saw someone at USF about his "memory issues" last month and she was able to do something none of us have been able to do - had hinm agree to see an Audiologist.

I went with him. Upon examining him, it became evident that my dad had wax in his 'bad ear'. Medicare will not pay for the audiologist to remove the wax, so we went to his GP. They do those on Fridays. We got an appointment. When we arrived, she asked "You did your drops?" I said "What drops?" It seems the front desk should have given us instructions.

They didn't.

So, she did as much cleaning as she could - and there was still more there.

She gave us the instructions, we followed them to the letter and he went back the morning I came home. She still could not get it all out.

He says she said to keep on doing the drops - called Debrox.

He has been doing it every day for a week and has had no improvement and no wax coming out. He is discouraged and even more depressed.

Anyone have any advice?

[Estonut]

My dad has had 'a hearing problem' for some time. He saw someone at USF about his "memory issues" last month and she was able to do something none of us have been able to do - had hinm agree to see an Audiologist.

I went with him. Upon examining him, it became evident that my dad had wax in his 'bad ear'. Medicare will not pay for the audiologist to remove the wax, so we went to his GP. They do those on Fridays. We got an appointment. When we arrived, she asked "You did your drops?" I said "What drops?" It seems the front desk should have given us instructions.

They didn't.

So, she did as much cleaning as she could - and there was still more there.

She gave us the instructions, we followed them to the letter and he went back the morning I came home. She still could not get it all out.

He says she said to keep on doing the drops - called Debrox.

He has been doing it every day for a week and has had no improvement and no wax coming out. He is discouraged and even more depressed.

Anyone have any advice?

When we were kids, the pediatrician told my mom to use hydogen peroxide via the bulb-thingie. You would feel it warm up and bubble, so I think it dissolved the cerumen. Then we'd have to drain our ears into a kleenex. That may be a sixties remedy, but it's worth a google...

[peacock2121]

You should have seen all of the wax the technician took from his ear the day I was there. It looked like mouse poop. He said the second day that she showed him all she took then and he was impressed.

If getting this wax out would really solve his hearing problem - it would just change so much for the better.

[Estonut]

I had a girlfriend who had a young son who was losing his hearing. She took him to the doctor and found out his loss was caused by a bean that he had stuck in his ear (and it had started to sprout). She was especially grossed out when she recalled that the art project using such beans had been several months earlier...

[TheConfessor]

I had a girlfriend who had a young son who was losing his hearing. She took him to the doctor and found out his loss was caused by a bean that he had stuck in his ear (and it had started to sprout). She was especially grossed out when she recalled that the art project using such beans had been several months earlier...

This was a Top 40 hit in the spring of 1964, when The Beatles were all the rage:

[Estonut]

This was a Top 40 hit in the spring of 1964, when The Beatles were all the rage:

<snipped>

LOL! The (translated) Estonian version of that warning is "don't stuff peas in your ears!" Perhaps we don't know beans...

[peacock2121]

I had a girlfriend who had a young son who was losing his hearing. She took him to the doctor and found out his loss was caused by a bean that he had stuck in his ear (and it had started to sprout). She was especially grossed out when she recalled that the art project using such beans had been several months earlier...

Oh MY GOD!

[a1mamacat]

Pea, I actually had that problem a couple of years ago myself, and the doctor used a warm saline flush. He said that it had to be warm enough to soften the wax so that it could be removed without scraping and damaging the eardrum.

[peacock2121]

I just got off the phone with my dad. He has given up on it.

sigh

Everything is hard for him.

We decided (actually I decided) that we would tackle it when I am there in September.

[Thousandaire]

A mild solution of hydrogen peroxide. Let soak for several seconds.

[mom2five]

My mom has always had a problem with her ears and wax, and just in the past year she was at a point where she could not hear much at all. I finally got her to see her doctor and they tried unsuccessfully to flush out the wax with a water-pik type thing, so the aide suggested we go home and put drops of olive oil in the ears twice a day for a week+ and when we went back, her ears flushed out easily! (We had been trying Debrox on our own for several weeks and it did not help at all.)

[ToLiveIsToFly]

I am sorry. I have always had a problem with earwax. I had two years of grammar school where the kids I still won't accept friend requests on facebook called me "mustard ears". Good times.

I used debrox drops for a while. I always used it in the shower because the stuff that came out was gross. For a couple of years the routine was debrox drops, flushing with one of those bulb syringe things that we now use to suck all kinds of unsavory things out of our kids' noses (I mean, it's a different one, but it's the same type of thing), and then rubbing alcohol (doc told me that would make sure the ear didn't end up with water in it, which is crucial to me, since the worst pain I've ever had was a case of swimmer's ear when I was 18 or 19). It worked fine.

Now I use q-tips the exact way everyone has always said not to - in the ear canal to clean out the wax. I'm not proud but it works, and I've been doing it for 13 years with no ill effects.

But I also have this link to contribute, partly because it's relevant and partly because the question-asker is my best friend from college. He also was mentioned on wait wait don't tell me because he once created a firefox add on that did nothing but display a message on the status bar saying whether Abe Vigoda was alive or dead.

Hope this helps.

[peacock2121]

Thanks for all of the ideas. I will try them when I am there in September - or.... maybe I'll give my brother something to so when he is there in 2 weeks - that's the ticket!

Let's see how I do with giving something away!

[littlebeast13]

What's wrong with using the butt end of a pen.....?

lb13

[peacock2121]

What's wrong with using the butt end of a pen.....?

lb13

No one likes ink in their ear.

[littlebeast13]

What's wrong with using the butt end of a pen.....?

lb13

No one likes ink in their ear.

That's why you don't use leaky pens.....

lb13

[peacock2121]

What's wrong with using the butt end of a pen.....?

lb13

No one likes ink in their ear.

That's why you don't use leaky pens.....

lb13

How the hell did you do that so fast?

That is amazing!

[littlebeast13]

No one likes ink in their ear.

That's why you don't use leaky pens.....

lb13

How the hell did you do that so fast?

That is amazing!

ES is amazing....

Second Chance got to witness ES's skills in person a few months ago......

lb13

[peacock2121]

That's why you don't use leaky pens.....

lb13

How the hell did you do that so fast?

That is amazing!

ES is amazing....

Second Chance got to witness ES's skills in person a few months ago......

lb13

Did she share about it? I would love to read what she said.

Got a link to her post if she made one?

[littlebeast13]

How the hell did you do that so fast?

That is amazing!

ES is amazing....

Second Chance got to witness ES's skills in person a few months ago......

lb13

Did she share about it? I would love to read what she said.

Got a link to her post if she made one?

http://wwtbambored.com/viewtopic.php?f= ... 28#p308728

lb13

[peacock2121]

LOL - in a thread about cats peeing and pooping!

I do not know what to think about that.

[gsabc]

I'd make a mental note of this but the pen keeps getting stuck in my ear ...

[SportsFan68]

This works for me, probably not for anybody else. I often do stuff which requires ear protection. If it won't be as severe as gunshots or something like that, I'll wad up and put tissue earplugs in my ears, then throw them away, wax and all, when the hearing threat is over.

[Estonut]

Peaby,

I've searched a little bit since posting and find that hydrogen peroxide is a fairly commonly suggested remedy. Apparently, it comes in different strengths, so be sure you don't get anything more than 3%. I've never been burned by it, so others either had a stronger solution or are more sensitive to it. You may want to dilute it with warm water the first time and see if it still bubbles and fizzes when in contact with the cerumen.

The other common solution is oil. I've seen Castor, Mineral and Baby oil as suggestions. This kind of makes sense, too, as it reminded me of something else from my childhood. We had a couple different fluffs of rabbits (I know that's not the right collective noun, but none of them sounded better than "fluff" or "hutch"). One rabbit had some kind of bloody, scaly crud in his ears. It drove him crazy. The veterinarian prescribed a few drops of mineral oil in each ear every day. We did that and it cleared up quickly. We didn't do anything to drain them, as I think he just shook it out. It did seem to soften the crud, so it went away, too. I now think that was probably overproduction of cerumen and the blood was from him scratching his ears like crazy. This all makes me think that an oil-based remedy might be worth trying, too.

Either one, have him lay down with the ear being treated up, parallel to the ground. Put in a few drops of whatever you're using and let it sit for a few minutes. If it's the hydrogen peroxide, he'll feel it warm up and bubble & fizz, so you know it's dissolving the ear wax. When that ear is done, have him hold a cotton ball or crumpled Kleenex up the the ear canal and do the other side.

[Bob Juch]

If you clean your ears with your car keys, be sure to take them out of the ignition first.