How to Remove Ear Wax

One time I pushed some wax against my ear drum, it kind of dried and stuck there and no ear cleaning treatment would remove it. It felt like I was underwater in that ear.

I had to go to the doctor to have it suctioned out with the little ear vacuum. It only takes a few minutes.

If none of the usual ear wax removal treatments work (hydrogen peroxide, over the counter ear cleaning products like Debrox), you will have to go the the doctor.

Oh brother. You won't like my story. Not only did I clog my ear from putting a darn q-tip in it, I damaged my ear. It hurt SO much that I couldn't sleep and walking around all day was misery. I couldn't hear out of it either. I went to the ENT and she cleaned it out and gave me antibiotic drops - the wax had torn part of my ear canal. Still - I couldn't hear and it hurt. Second visit, she looked in and said that she didn't know why it still hurt.

Two miserable weeks later, I found another ENT. She found ear wax jammed underneath my eardrum. She adeptly removed it, had a special hearing check done to check my 8th nerve (I forget what that is), and what she did worked.

You've heard, right? the old saying "Don't put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear." It is SO true! If you read a q-tip box, it says not to put them in your ear. I always tell this story in hopes that I can help someone else not go through what I did.

Go to the ENT now. Get them to unclog your ear. And don't ever clean out your ears on your own. If by cleaning, you are saying you only used the Deborox, then it sounds like you should put more in there. Sleep ON that ear with a towel on the pillow so it will drain. I'd still go to the ear doctor.

Some people just make more wax than others.
If we went to the doctor every time we needed our ears de-waxed we'd be seeing him every 4 weeks and that's too expensive.

Try using a little peroxide.
We use this:

http://www.amazon.com/Elephant-Washer-Bottle-Doctor-Easy/...

I use warm water with some peroxide in it then gently squirt/irrigate the wax out.

Additional:
Ear candling is a fraud and very dangerous.
It's not effective, the whole theory behind it is flawed, and if melted candle wax drips into your ear surgery is often required to remove it.

http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/candlin...

You have to lie down with the debrox in your ear for about 10 minutes. then rub your ear at the base of it, kind of beneath you ear vigorously to loosen the wax from the ear canal. Then, and this is the important part, get the ear bulb and flush with water, and you have to squeeze that thing hard so that you get a good string stream of water. that's how they do it at the doctors. you may have to do this 2 or 3 days in a row. I get a lot of swimmers ear and I subsequently have a lot of waxy skin chunks, this is the only way to get them out.

My mom has super slender ear canals and would frequently get clogged ears. She went to the doctor many times, but what worked eventually was to use peroxide and water in a bulb syringe at least weekly. But I agree with another post below: go see a doctor and ask for expert advise how to prevent this in the future.

Semolina is right about the Debrox - use the bulb to flush out softened wax, which takes a number of treatments. Use warm water and get as much water in the bulb as you can to make a strong stream. I put the bulb in a clean bowl of very warm water, squeeze out the air, and let the water get sucked back in. Use a large bowl so the bulb can be upright and fill completely with no air. Do this next to the sink or in the bathtub so the water drains away.

There is also something called ear candling - the "candles" are also called ear cones. The cone is a tall thin tube of linen which was wrapped around a cone-shaped mold and then dipped in wax to hold its shape. It's hollow with a narrow tip that goes into the ear. You can buy them in many health food stores but be absolutely sure to get the tall thin ones with not too much wax coating on the outside. You need a helper (at least until you are skilled at this), an aluminum pie plate, good scissors, matches and a bowl of water, plus a towel for your hair. There will be instructions inside the package, but here are my tips.

Punch a hole in the pie plate and gently insert the cone so about 2-3 inches sticks out below the plate. Lie down, cover your hair, and very gently insert the tip of the cone into your ear - don't force it. Be sure you are holding the cone below the pie plate so the main part of the cone is separated from your hand by the plate. Have your helper light the top end of the cone and keep an eye on it. The cone burns, and a little smoke goes down into the ear canal, while the up draft creates some suction to a) soften the wax and b) draws the embedded wax up and toward the opening of the ear. The helper cuts off the burned section of the cone without removing it and breaking the suction. What we do is hold a bowl of water up near the burning section, and cut through the linen cone leaving about 1/4 inch of black burning cone still on it. The used up ash piece drops into the bowl of water and the fire goes out. The pie plate and the towel protect your from any falling piece in case the helper misses - but the piece usually cuts cleanly. You will probably hear some odd sounds - almost a sizzling sound - as the wax gets softer and is starting to move up, but remember, it's not hot in the ear - there's no flame down there! Be sure you keep the tip of the cone as far down in as you can so there is good suction, but without pressing or hurting yourself!

Slide the plate down as far as you can toward your ear, so you can use as much of the cone as possible. When the burning tip gets to about an inch above the plate, the helper removes the whole thing and extinguishes it.

The reason I said not to get the super waxy cones is that the wax melts and can run down into the ear - kind of defeats the purpose! I think the taller candles give you more time/suction too. They aren't cheap but look for the packages of 4 or 12. I'm not sure of the brand anymore, but I think there might be one called Willy's or something similar.

You can also have this done at some salons or holistic centers - they will advertise it as "ear candling".

An alternative, of course, is the doctor's office - I used to have this done as well. They take warm water with peroxide in it, and take this thing that looks like a ray gun, fill it up, pump up the pressure, and blast water in the ear. They give you a little cup that sits under the ear to catch the run off water. The advantage of course is that the doctor can see inside to be sure the ear drum is exposed. You don't need to go to an ENT - my internist used to do it. I did have an ENT remove some wax with a little hook-like tool one time - but it was easy to reach that one time. The water method seems to be the preferred remedy.

Each thing usually winds up costing about the same!

Obviously you've now learned that cleaning out the ears with anything such as a Q-tip just pushes the wax further in.

I used to have this problem a lot and I've done all the methods: candling them at home, having a holistic practitioner candle them, and going to the doctor. I finally wound up doing some immune system support which stopped all the excessive ear wax (I still have some, of course - everyone does) and now it's no longer a problem.

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!

The angle that you use when you squirt the water in matters too. Try several different angles to make sure you are getting it all.

I use 3% hydrogen peroxide. I pour it in my ear, wait for about 10 minutes, and then tilt my head and let it drain out. Google it- there are plenty of instructions out there if you want to go this route.