Ear Hygeiene
 

Healthwise, I know we're not supposed to stick anything in our ear canal, not even q-tips.
I guess I'm somebody that doesn't always listen to doctors. I use cheapy q-tips from the dollar store to wipe down my canals after

showering.

I also wear custom molded In-Ear-Monitors for headphones, the type that require ear canal insertion.


Up until my mid high-school years, my parents would take a little pick thingy and and clean out my ear wax.
It wasn't a lot, but I think it definitely made a difference in hearing. I really miss that clean and fresh feeling.

Parents are bit older now and this isn't something I can just look in a mirror and do myself.
I also don't really trust just random people to use the pick thing.


Has anybody ever had their ears flushed out?
I heard you can get a doctor to do it?

thoughts?

when i was younger i had a blockage due to this an abnormally large collection of earwax (it was a medical disorder that caused it to clump at an abnormal rate instead of falling apart) and had a doctor flush it out with water. don't think it's one of those "regular" things you can do though. the ear wax just falls out on its own anyways.

1) buy one of those plastic/disposable syringes from the pharmacy
2) sterilize w/ some alcohol wipes and let dry
3) fill it with warmish water
4) insert into ear, gently squirt the water into the ear canal while head is sideways. do it over a sink
5) repeat a couple of times in each ear, you'll be surprised what comes out

*make sure u dry out each ear very thoroughly otherwise u might get an ear infection. do the jump thing after u go swimming.
**use warm water, anything colder will mess with your inner ear balance and u will become nauseous.

Your doctor will do it for you... it's a regular occurence... Just ask them to do it... but you may want to do some prep work before hand to make it easier

Get some Cerumol from the pharmacy, put a few drops into the affected ears at bedtime for a few nights (~3) and that will help soften the earwax up. Alternately you can use mineral oil or something too. Then go to the doctor and they will do the ear syringing using water.

Better not to do it yourself as you can rupture your delicate eardrum.

^ what he said.

my doc told me to go in every 6 months for the wax flush because i went for the first time in 6 years and he had to flush it twice.. as in i had to go in two seperate days. basically ear drops for 3 days, flush, ear drops for another 2 days, flush.
suprised at how much better my hearing was after the flush. it cost nothing (Except for the ear drops) and it only takes the guy about 5mins.