Ear wax cleaning in NW DC

[Anonymous]

PP, you are like a dog with a bone - very invested in arguing with and even insulting those who choose to go to urgent care instead of treating at home. I don’t understand your investment, nor your derision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you know if you have this?

You would know already if you are someone who produces a lot of ear wax. Like OP, you’d struggle to hear in one ear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is absolutely ridiculous to try to do this yourself, and risk further damage plus not getting the job done, when an ENT doctor or clinic can do it safely and effectively in minutes.

Do you go to a gastroenterologist so they can wipe your butt, too?

If this is too much for you, then life is probably too much for you.

Good luck to you when you bust your ear drum with your clumsy attempts!

That would be impressive.

Do you similarly go to the ER for drops when they're dry because you can't seem to ignore the voice telling you to shove the dropper into your eye?

A little common sense goes a long way. It's too bad that's in such short supply.

Why are you such an ass hole? You're obviously not a health care provider, so why are you trying to tell anyone when they can or can't go see a provider.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is absolutely ridiculous to try to do this yourself, and risk further damage plus not getting the job done, when an ENT doctor or clinic can do it safely and effectively in minutes.

Do you go to a gastroenterologist so they can wipe your butt, too?

If this is too much for you, then life is probably too much for you.

Good luck to you when you bust your ear drum with your clumsy attempts!

That would be impressive.

Do you similarly go to the ER for drops when they're dry because you can't seem to ignore the voice telling you to shove the dropper into your eye?

A little common sense goes a long way. It's too bad that's in such short supply.

Why are you such an ass hole? You're obviously not a health care provider, so why are you trying to tell anyone when they can or can't go see a provider.

No, I certainly can't. But what you're doing here is effectively telling someone to go to urgent care or a specialist for the equivalent of a bandaid. That's ridiculous and wasteful. And part do the reason the US spends more than every other country. e.g., providers in the UK don't do this-- they expect you to do it at home yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you know if you have this?

You really don't know for sure, until a professional looks in your ear to visualize it. That said, if you aren't exceedingly old, and have some hearing loss in one ear, it's almost always a build up of wax. Super common. But yeah, you don't know -- it could be sensorineural hearing loss, or conductive hearing loss from something other than wax build up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t go to urgent care for this, they won’t have the equipment. You want an old-school ENT with the irrigation machine.

Of course they have equipment for this at Urgent Care. Even the CVS Minute Clinic does. The "equipment" that is usually involved is just an otoscope -- which every doctor used to look in ears. Not a health clinic in the world that doesn't have one. And the other "equipment" is, as others have mentioned, just a big bulb syringe that shoots water into the ear at a high enough velocity to flush the wax out of the ear. Hopefully. Usually it does. If that doesn't get the wax out then yes, you have to go to the ENT. But ENT does not need to be the first stop for most people with an ear wax build up problem.

-- someone with an ear wax problem who has had her ear flushed at both a Minute Clinic and an Urgent Care, to much great success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t go to urgent care for this, they won’t have the equipment. You want an old-school ENT with the irrigation machine.

Of course they have equipment for this at Urgent Care. Even the CVS Minute Clinic does. The "equipment" that is usually involved is just an otoscope -- which every doctor used to look in ears. Not a health clinic in the world that doesn't have one. And the other "equipment" is, as others have mentioned, just a big bulb syringe that shoots water into the ear at a high enough velocity to flush the wax out of the ear. Hopefully. Usually it does. If that doesn't get the wax out then yes, you have to go to the ENT. But ENT does not need to be the first stop for most people with an ear wax build up problem.

-- someone with an ear wax problem who has had her ear flushed at both a Minute Clinic and an Urgent Care, to much great success.

Most doctors are perfectly happy to use curettes/hooks if the irrigation doesn't work. Some prefer it since it ends up being faster. There shouldn't be a need to go to an ENT in all but the most extreme cases.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you know if you have this?

You really don't know for sure, until a professional looks in your ear to visualize it. That said, if you aren't exceedingly old, and have some hearing loss in one ear, it's almost always a build up of wax. Super common. But yeah, you don't know -- it could be sensorineural hearing loss, or conductive hearing loss from something other than wax build up.

Sure you do. Flush your ear with water and see if a big chunk of wax comes out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is absolutely ridiculous to try to do this yourself, and risk further damage plus not getting the job done, when an ENT doctor or clinic can do it safely and effectively in minutes.

Do you go to a gastroenterologist so they can wipe your butt, too?

If this is too much for you, then life is probably too much for you.

Good luck to you when you bust your ear drum with your clumsy attempts!

That would be impressive.

Do you similarly go to the ER for drops when they're dry because you can't seem to ignore the voice telling you to shove the dropper into your eye?

A little common sense goes a long way. It's too bad that's in such short supply.

Why are you such an ass hole? You're obviously not a health care provider, so why are you trying to tell anyone when they can or can't go see a provider.

No, I certainly can't. But what you're doing here is effectively telling someone to go to urgent care or a specialist for the equivalent of a bandaid. That's ridiculous and wasteful. And part do the reason the US spends more than every other country. e.g., providers in the UK don't do this-- they expect you to do it at home yourself.

Go gatekeep in the UK. It's beyond time for you to shut up and go away. No provider is going to say or has said that it's inappropriate to go to urgent care for impacted ear wax effecting hearing. Yet you, some uneducated and aggressive know it all, wants to tell everyone they're a horrible person for seeking medical care.