Ear Wax

[supergreen]

My left ear is completely stopped up with wax. I tried to wash it out by turning my ear towards the shower head and it made it worse. Actually that's what got it fully stopped up, whereas before it was mild. Things are severely muted in my left ear. Do I just need to wait for it to go away on its own or is there something safe and relatively natural I can do for it? My right ear also has the same problem right now, just not as bad. This had happened before, usually a result of taking a bath and getting my head completely under water, but never this bad.

Anyone know why this even happens in the first place?

[queenfluff]

DO NOT try to get it out with water! The same thing happend to me many years ago and my ear got infected because the wax. I went to my "regular" doctor and she had to give me drops to get the swelling down before she could get the wax out and unfortunatley, she flushed it out with hard flushes of water with a syringe with me tilting my head down - it came out eventually but I couldn't ear as well in that ear after wards.

A water flush like that can damage your hearing. I have lost almost half my hearing (the wax infections happened twice in both ears) in both ears because of wax buildup and trying to remove the wax incorrectly (and yes, I tried to remove it myself - I wish I could go back and change that).

Oh, also - I hate to tell you this but you probably made it worse by trying to flush it with the shower - you probably pushed the wax farther back in your ear.

Go to a ENT or audiologist and have them remove the wax with a special tool. (it is a long silver piece). That is the safest thing you can do to protect your hearing.

There really is no natural way to remove it - normally ear wax should dry up and it should fall out by itself. But it sounds like you have alot of it so I would have it removed by a professional.

I don't know if you noticed yet but I noticed that the cleaner my diet is the less wax I have in my ears. If I go back to eating more cooked, I get more ear wax.

[juliebove]

You can buy little tools to remove the wax. If you have an Asian store near you, they probably sell them. They're like little spoons and they're made of bamboo or wood or something. I have some that are made of plastic. I bought them online. Here is an example:

http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/cvs/gatewa...?prodid=235822

But are you sure it's really wax that's the problem? Could be your ear is full of fluid or swollen shut.

You can buy drops that help dissolve the wax. They're made of a type of peroxide that will bubble when you put it in. You then use a bulb and warm water to flush out the softened wax. Using plain water won't do it and can cause an infection. But since you already put the water in there, you should probably try to dry it out using 1/2 alcohol and 1/2 vinegar.

[supergreen]

As annoying as it is, maybe it would be best to just wait it out for the stuff to dry and fall out.

[Davylp25]

Ear Candeling, I believe it's called... Something to that effect. Look it up. Aesthicians (spelling B reject) perform this.

[aililiu]

i dont know much about it... but theres a process called ear coning, i think thats what davy was talking about ^^....they use a beeswax candle.... anyways, i dont know the whole process but somehow it creates a vacuum of sorts, its supposed to be very safe and very effective, look into it!

also i think you can get oil drops to put into your ears.... sorry im not more useful! i used to work at a boarding school and one of the girls had intense vertigo from all the ear wax throwing off her balance... they put oil (dunno what kind) into her ear, it would leak down her cheek a bit which she didnt like BUT it solved the problem.

sorry im not more helpful, you could look into those options though.

:)

[juliebove]

i dont know much about it... but theres a process called ear coning, i think thats what davy was talking about ^^....they use a beeswax candle.... anyways, i dont know the whole process but somehow it creates a vacuum of sorts, its supposed to be very safe and very effective, look into it!

also i think you can get oil drops to put into your ears.... sorry im not more useful! i used to work at a boarding school and one of the girls had intense vertigo from all the ear wax throwing off her balance... they put oil (dunno what kind) into her ear, it would leak down her cheek a bit which she didnt like BUT it solved the problem.

sorry im not more helpful, you could look into those options though.

:)

It's called candling. As to whether it's safe, that's debatable. I bought a book on how to do it. This was before I knew about my food allergies and how they were causing all the ear and sinus infections.

It's not something that can be done by yourself. It involves a lit candle. You can get burned, your hair can catch on fire or your surroundings can catch on fire. To do it, you have to lie down on the bed with something protective over you that exposes just your ear. The other person uses the candle. It's not a simple procedure. As I said, there is a book about how to do it.

I don't think the intent of the candle is to remove wax. They claim it removes debris. Some say that debris is merely melted and burned wax from the candle.

I don't know. I decided not to try it.

[queenfluff]

Every one gives good advice here but I honestly would advise you NOT to remove it yourself. (esp. DO NOT buy the tool and try to take it out yourself - you can't see what you are doing and you can preforate your ear drum accidentally and that is NOT fixable). Same thing with a Q-tip or other device - don't stick them in your ear. Let a pro do it.

I learned this lesson the hard way.

If I would try anything at home it would be one of those over the counter Ear Wax Removal kits. Not natural I know but that are relatively safe.

Ear candling (coning - they are the same thing) can be dangerous and honestly, many people doubts that they work. They are also dangerous because you can drop the hot wax in your ear if you do not know what you are doing. If you want to try it, lots of salons and spas do it now - I would go and have someone do it for you. But honestly, I would never do it at all myself. Just the chance of having hot wax fall in my ear is enough to keep me away from it.

The wax may not fall out by itself if it is mix in with alot of oil and dirt though. So, don't let it go too long - just having a lot of wax impacted in your ear for too long can cause in infection and damage your hearing (This is exactly what happened to me).

[solarliving]

I got ear coning done when I was having a hard time hearing out of my left ear. I didn't even tell the practitioner and she said the left one had the most debri. It worked for me. I would recommend it to people. She said she had a lot of surfers come in because of getting sand in their ears. I think it's fairly harmless when the person who is doing it is experienced.

[aililiu]

oh, yes, of course, i never meant to do it yourself! if youre going to get the ear coning done, def. go somewhere &get a professional to do it. then i think it can be safe, and better than the method of blasting water into your ear.

my old boss told me once that she used to do that as a job, and that it was incredible the amount of stuff that came out

[Judy]

I know that there are some natural oil eardrops.
My db used it once on recommendation of his doctor, it softens the wax and then you can remove it easily. I don't know what the oil was exactly, I believe a mix of different oils, but try Google, you might find it.
And if it doesn't help, just go to a doctor.

[Dr. White]

I do ear candling in the office and I do myself by watching the flame in the bathroom mirror. I would not reccomend that anyone candle their own ears because of the risk of setting yourself on fire. Ear candling can be very drying to the ear canal, so you will want to add a few drops of olive oil afterward or you will have itchy ears.

I have also candled my 11 year olds ears since he was 6 months old. I would do it when he was sleeping at first. By the time he was 1 1/2 he would lie still and allow me to do it.

[spicyfull]

I know that there are some natural oil eardrops.
My db used it once on recommendation of his doctor, it softens the wax and then you can remove it easily. I don't know what the oil was exactly, I believe a mix of different oils, but try Google, you might find it.
And if it doesn't help, just go to a doctor.

Its called "Sweet Oil" which is Olive Oil...I warm it up on another part of my body( like under my arm, etc.) before I drop it in my ear.

It is Always best to see a Doctor..and you should Never put Anything in your ear smaller than your ELBOW.

LIFE IS WORTH HEARING.........

[spicyfull]

Good Topic SuperGreen..............

[Strawberry Smoothie]

Wouldn't hurt to try taking echinacea or a little oil of oregano internally just in case your body is trying to get an infection. I've had ear probems most of my life. One thing that usually helps if i get water in there is to jump up and down on the ground with my water logged ear tilted toward the ground. You'll look kind of stupid doing it, but if it works, who cares?

I agree, I wouldn't stick anything in there for fear of causing more damage.