Which Ear Wax Cleaning to Get?

[Anonymous]

I have super small Eustachian tubes. It seems I've got a buildup of wax in my ear. My ears are oily feeling and full, which is affecting my hearing, and pushing on my tragus is the only way to get them to "pop" a little so I can hear better. They also itch and a brown wax comes out if I clean them with a q-tip. I know you're not supposed to clean with a q-tip but I was not digging deep.
I suppose I need to go to the ENT.
Should I ask for water irrigation, microsuction or manual extraction with a pick?
I'm a little nervous....how long does the process take and does it hurt?

[Anonymous]

Just go to your local urgent care. This is not really rocket science.

[Anonymous]

My experience was water irrigation at the local urgent care. It was easy and quick. It resolved the problem. No need to see an ENT for this.

[Anonymous]

^ For a few days before the water irrigation I would suggest to use Debrox drops on your ears (follow package instructions). It will soften the ear wax and help it to come out.

If you don't use something like this beforehand, the urgent care may send you back telling you to use this for four days or so and then go back to urgent care for irrigation. It is important to soften it up before seeing an urgent care staff.

[Anonymous]

DH goes to ENT twice a year. Their technique changes over the years as new methods come along. It is definitely not digging. Might be vacuum, water. Ask ENT office about using anything beforehand. They are expert.

[Anonymous]

The nurse at my pcp just do lukewarm water until it was cleared out. No big deal and I immediately felt better. Also, stop with the q-tips if you don’t want a recurrence.

[Anonymous]

Agree with water irrigation at urgent care. If they can't get it done they will refer you to an an ENT.

As someone with similar issues, I have found that cleaning out my ears every couple of weeks with a few ear drops, a bulb syringe, and warm water prevents this from happening at all. The ear drops are just to soften the wax so that it's easer to flush with water. No q tips, they just push the wax further back in your ear.

You can also buy the ear irrigation spray bottle they will use at urgent care, from a medical supply store. Personally I have found it is too hard to maneuver it on my own ears and prefer the syringe which I find easier to aim (takes a little practice but once you figure it out, it's easy -- about has hard as learning to floss your teeth).

Being able to do this at home was a big quality of life upgrade for me. It's now weird to me that teaching people how to clean out ears with water isn't taught as a normal part of hygiene growing up, because everyone I know who is prone to waxy buildup (including me) has done what you are now doing -- suffering with discomfort, mucking around with q tips even though they expressly say not to use them to clean out ears, and ultimately seeking a medical pro to deal with the problem when it gets really bad. It's really not that hard to do yourself, it's just that for some reason no one ever really explains this and I had to figure it out myself via trial and error.

[Anonymous]

I would go to an ENT. My pediatrician scratched my kid’s eardrum trying to get out the wax and she needed to go on antibiotics to prevent a possible ear infection after that. Both my kid and I are prone to wax and we go once a year to the ENT to get it cleaned out by whatever methods they find necessary. No pain involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would go to an ENT. My pediatrician scratched my kid’s eardrum trying to get out the wax and she needed to go on antibiotics to prevent a possible ear infection after that. Both my kid and I are prone to wax and we go once a year to the ENT to get it cleaned out by whatever methods they find necessary. No pain involved.

Your ped should not have used any method capable of scratching! Water irrigation works great like 95% of the time, if they were trying to scoop out the wax or use suction, that's on them for being dumb.

Seeing an ENT for this is overkill, it does not require a doctor at all. Urgent cares are used to this and the medical assistants there are used to it and do a good job.

[Anonymous]

You can get a scope with a camera on it and you guide yourself through your cell phone. I use one. I am obsessive about cleaning my ears since going deaf in one ear overnight. I don't want anything to clog the remaining good ear I have. It might take a little practice but I find it does the best job, followed by water irrigation.

[Anonymous]

Our ENT is in network. $20 for DH scheduled for every 6 mo sounds better than a camera app, lol.

[Anonymous]

Go to an ENT who uses water irrigation. When we lived in a smaller city for a while he saw one who scraped it out and it messed him up for a while.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our ENT is in network. $20 for DH scheduled for every 6 mo sounds better than a camera app, lol.

What’s funny about making a suggestion that was requested?

[Anonymous]

Urgent care usually can handle. My GP and gis nurse practitioners also can handle.

Ear wax softener drops (generic ones) using hypotonic Carbamide Peroxide also work well for us.

[Anonymous]

The Debrox stuff works great and dissolves the wax. I don’t need to go to a doctor about it.