About two days ago, I woke up to find I was almost completely deaf in my left ear. Had someone go spelunking with a flashlight and it turned out there was a large chunk of earwax in there.
An ear cleaning kit isn't doing anything at all. I pour in the liquid, wait ten minutes, drain into a paper towel, and then flush it with hot water, absolutely no improvement. I know for a fact there's something in there because I pulled a shitload of earwax out with q-tips. Pressing down on my ear makes my hearing return to normal for about five seconds before I can't hear again, like a switch is being thrown to suddenly shut off that ear.
Stop sticking q-tips in your ear, you'll compact the wax against your eardrum. If there's a lot of wax or hardened wax it won't be cleared out at once. Keep using the ear cleaner, you should notice gradual improvement. If it's not working go see a doctor, they have more powerful means of removing wax.
You may need to go to a clinic to have them look into it further, but it just sounds like you've got some deep gunking going on in your ear. If it's just a matter of your ear being gunked up, they might be able to help you better than just the cleaning kit you've been using.
get your ear flushed at a gp, its the best feeling in the world.
try a vacuum cleaner
[editline]5th February 2018[/editline]
or tweezers if you're really brave. sharper is better
you could also get an ear syringe and flush it out yourself with water, although it'll definitely take a good few hours of spraying water into your ear
Go to a clinic. It's most likely solidified which means water won't make it dissolve away, as it's maybe blocking the passage between the opening and the eardrum, meaning by pushing a Q-tip will only take off layers of the earwax pile already in there.
Quick tip about Q-tip btw, don't use it, but if you ever use it, don't go further in then right before / the start of the passage, and use it often. Preferably a little bit wet so the cotton bud at the end only takes the earwax, and don't actually rip apart from the tip of the bud, along with small movements, going in slow circles around the passage way. Don't try to scrub it or anything, just lay it so it touches a little firmly, then always try to drag outwards. Never push it inwards, go straight in, lay it down or upwards of your ear, and then pull it towards you.
Use an ear-pump with water to do a weekly cleaning instead, have it as a ritual or something if you gain up a lot of earwax.
Had this talk with my GP a couple of years back when I had to check my ears after I thought I had gotten tinnitus from a concert I played, and he kinda implied my ear was a "rash", due to me scrubbing dry q-tips in there.
You can try to get your ears syringed but mind you when I had the same thing, one visit wasn't enough. My ear was pretty fucked so if yours is that blocked you best follow up on every checkup at a clinic until you feel it's 100% gone
[QUOTE=butre;53108569]try a vacuum cleaner
[editline]5th February 2018[/editline]
or tweezers if you're really brave. sharper is better[/QUOTE]
Yeah don't do this.
[QUOTE=JerryAnderson;53108501]About two days ago, I woke up to find I was almost completely deaf in my left ear. Had someone go spelunking with a flashlight and it turned out there was a large chunk of earwax in there.
An ear cleaning kit isn't doing anything at all. I pour in the liquid, wait ten minutes, drain into a paper towel, and then flush it with hot water, absolutely no improvement. I know for a fact there's something in there because I pulled a shitload of earwax out with q-tips. Pressing down on my ear makes my hearing return to normal for about five seconds before I can't hear again, like a switch is being thrown to suddenly shut off that ear.[/QUOTE]
Had this issue 4 years ago and had to get my ear irrigated / syringed. You'll want to pour some olive oil into the effected ear and lie with it for 10-15 minutes so it soaks up the oil, this'll soften it up over time.
Your GP will recommend you do this twice a day, morning and night for 4-5 weeks before booking an appointment for a nurse to syringe your ear.
Not sure where you're based, but there is a product called Otex, they're eardrops for exactly this although the olive oil does basically the same thing.
Recently (4 weeks ago) I had the issue crop up again, totally deaf in my right ear when I woke up. I gave it 2 weeks before calling the GP to book an appointment since the olive oil+otex didn't work. Two days later a gigantic lump of wax fell outta my ear and I could hear properly again, cancelled the appointment later that day. You'll find that after getting the irrigation done you will have a higher chance of it reoccurring again in a few months/years.
Just gotta give it time to do the work, your ear will eventually push the shit out.
This happened to me before. Just go to a doctor or a clinic, they'll fix you up right.
[QUOTE=JerryAnderson;53108501]About two days ago, I woke up to find I was almost completely deaf in my left ear. Had someone go spelunking with a flashlight and it turned out there was a large chunk of earwax in there.
An ear cleaning kit isn't doing anything at all. I pour in the liquid, wait ten minutes, drain into a paper towel, and then flush it with hot water, absolutely no improvement. I know for a fact there's something in there because I pulled a shitload of earwax out with q-tips. Pressing down on my ear makes my hearing return to normal for about five seconds before I can't hear again, like a switch is being thrown to suddenly shut off that ear.[/QUOTE]
Had this exact problem ~5 years ago. The loss of hearing was progressive and eventually couldn't hear most things and what I did sounded like I was under water, but pulling my ear seemed to let me hear briefly. Went to the doctor since I thought I had an ear infection since it started to hurt pretty bad, tried to flush it out, just made it worse, they sent me to an ear specialist and they went in with forceps and had to pull it out, took them 10 minutes, but after they pulled it out it was like night and day, could hear just fine and the pain was gone.
Told me to stop using q-tips and haven't had a problem since. They also told me to flush my ears but I get ear infections so easily taking a shower can cause one if I'm not careful so I don't do that but it's still fine, I just get them cleaned again every couple years.
[QUOTE=redBadger;53110345]Yeah don't do this.[/QUOTE]
Interestingly enough they use a small vacuum cleaner type instrument to pull the gunk out, at least they did with me like 15 years ago when I had a similar problem. Some kind of liquid was put in for a while, then they took this vacuum pipe thing and just sucked the glob out
[QUOTE=Orkel;53111032]Interestingly enough they use a small vacuum cleaner type instrument to pull the gunk out, at least they did with me like 15 years ago when I had a similar problem. Some kind of liquid was put in for a while, then they took this vacuum pipe thing and just sucked the glob out[/QUOTE]
The clinic I was at a few hours ago just used this small metal rod with a hoop at the end and a flashlight toward the handle.
Did not feel pleasant, to say the least. Recoiled a bit the first time the doctor put it in.
[QUOTE=redBadger;53110345]Yeah don't do this.[/QUOTE]
I thought it went without saying that my suggestions were in jest. maybe I should've made it more obvious. how's this?
just scoop it out with your truck keys. be sure to sterilize them in gasoline first
If you want to mentally prepare yourself, do some searching on youtube for 'ear wax removal'. There are plently of videos showing the entire procedure. Don't watch while you are eating though. Here is an example:
[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diLOI6T7p4c[/url]
Not embedding the video because the thumbnail is pretty euughh....
this thread made me think i should go get my ears cleaned, my hearing's been none too great and i've been using q-tips for years
Getting your ears syringed feels a bit uncomfortable but good god it feels relieving as fuck afterwards
I recommend getting that done once every 6 - 12 months
[QUOTE=Orkel;53111032]Interestingly enough they use a small vacuum cleaner type instrument to pull the gunk out, at least they did with me like 15 years ago when I had a similar problem. Some kind of liquid was put in for a while, then they took this vacuum pipe thing and just sucked the glob out[/QUOTE]
Probably hydrogen peroxide
[QUOTE=IliekBoxes;53114051]Probably hydrogen peroxide[/QUOTE]
hydrogen peroxide is unlikely, but it could have been one of about a dozen different oils, docusate, glycerin, baking soda and either water or oil, a mixture of hyperol and glycerin, or cerumol
[QUOTE=redBadger;53110345]Yeah don't do this.[/QUOTE]
I use a power drill and a japanese q-tip. When my head stops ringing off like a church bell being violently beaten and the bleeding stops its honestly worth it.
[QUOTE=Orkel;53111032]Interestingly enough they use a small vacuum cleaner type instrument to pull the gunk out, at least they did with me like 15 years ago when I had a similar problem. Some kind of liquid was put in for a while, then they took this vacuum pipe thing and just sucked the glob out[/QUOTE]
vacuum cleaning does less damage than the traditional ear syringing which blasts the walls of your ear with warm water.
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