Anonymous wrote:This is so American issue. I don't know why you don't clean like Asians do.

Ha. It's not an American issue, but there is something to your comment, because Asians are likelier to have dry earwax than wet earwax. Obviously, that makes a difference.

This is so American issue. I don't know why you don't clean like Asians do.

I occasionally use qtips, but honestly, I feel like a pen cap does a better job. I know that sounds weird. I get the watery kind of earwax that tickles and feel wet most of the time.

DH has to get his cleaned out by the ENT occasionally. It's worth it to call around and find someone who has the machine to do the irrigation; when we lived in a smaller town for a while the doctor there cleaned out his ears using some sort of tool and his ear canal got infected. It took months and a few trips to the closest major city to resolve the problem, in the meantime he had pain, balance issues, etc.

Older doctors seem to be more likely to do the irrigation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have the watery tickling kind. I can feel it rush in my ear canals at random times - it's horrible. I constantly feel like I need Qtips. I hate it.

I have this. I clean my ears twice a day. DH thinks I'm insane. I'm not sure he ever cleans his ears, and he doesn't understand what I mean when I say my ears feel wet or dirty.

Cleaning your ears such as with Qtips does nothing about wax. Zero

How? If the qtip comes out with a bunch of wax, you've succeeded in removing some of it from your ear

This whole conversation is enlightening to me. I've never had a problem with excessive ear wax. I had no idea it was a "thing." I guess that's one thing in my less than charmed life to feel fortunate about about... one less thing to worry about.

Anonymous wrote:I get really itchy ear canals. It drives me insane. Someone told me it was food allergy related but that seems odd.

Me too . One ear canal itches all. The. Time. I sometimes get what op described, but overall my ears aren't too waxy. I've quit qtips which hasn't helped. I'd kill to get rid of the itch at the point. Multiple pcps and ents find nothing wrong.

I go to the ENT every 12-18 months and get mine cleared out. I make a lot of wax and I've woken up before to a completely blocked ear drum - no fun since you can't hear and the pressure/balance is off. It sucks. So I now just prevent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have the watery tickling kind. I can feel it rush in my ear canals at random times - it's horrible. I constantly feel like I need Qtips. I hate it.

I have this. I clean my ears twice a day. DH thinks I'm insane. I'm not sure he ever cleans his ears, and he doesn't understand what I mean when I say my ears feel wet or dirty.

Cleaning your ears such as with Qtips does nothing about wax. Zero

I get really itchy ear canals. It drives me insane. Someone told me it was food allergy related but that seems odd.

I never had any problem with ear wax (and never used q-tips or any other cleaning method) until I got to my 40s. I developed really bad build up and went to an cold-call ENT doctor thinking I was going deaf. Gave me the water treatment -- it's pretty spectacular. The nurse gives you a bowl to hold under your ear to catch all the crud that comes out. By far the most satisfying doctors visit I have ever had!

I did it once then had to do again about six months later when the build up started to come back. These days I do use Q-tips and try to be sensible about it.

I know all doctors recommend against using them, saying they will do more harm than good and push wax deeper into the air canal and form wax balls. My experience has been the opposite though.

that said I agree with the previous poster who warned against using water pics and other unapproved devices. There are horror stories online about people who have permanent ringing in their ears due to things like that.

Anonymous wrote:Wait- you can get your ears professionally cleaned?

Yeah I want to know- can I get this done at the PCP, or does it need to be a specialist? Bc I have a ton of ear wax, and my kids inherited it too.

Wait- you can get your ears professionally cleaned?

Wow, how fast does this wax accumulate for you guys?? I clean my ears with a qtip once a month and get hardly anything!

Sort of envious, actually. I'm one of those weirdos that loves to pick at stuff.