.38 Special
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- Sep 15, 2006
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Yeah, it could be ear wax. It could also be other stuff. Some of the other stuff can be treated medically, but it needs to be addressed within a few days of the event in order to be effective. Unless you are positive it is ear wax, you are doing yourself no favors by avoiding the ENT.
The over-the-counter ear wax solutions can be very effective and are safe for most people, ie. those with intact eardrums, no infections or broken skin, etc. They are not very effective for completely occluded canals, however, as the solution needs to flow through and around the wax to work. With total occlusion, you still end up with an ear filled with a plug of wax, only now it's wet on one end.
In that situation, a doctor or nurse is your best and sometimes only recourse. Removal is within the scope of practice of any MD or RN, and anyone with a Masters or higher in audiology. None are required to do it, however, and may be more comfortable referring you to an ENT.
The two common methods of removal are mechanical removal and flushing. Mechanical removal can be uncomfortable. If the wax has been in there for a long time it can firmly adhere to the walls of the ear canal, which are rich in nerve endings. Many professionals will have patients use a softening agent like Debrox for a few days prior to removal. Flushing with hot water is normally more comfortable, but again, it is less effective for complete impactions. As "Buck Nekkid" pointed out, it will often make the patient dizzy, as the warm water sets into motion the fluid in the balance organs of the inner ear.
I see a lot of patients who have tried various other home remedies. I see these people because their ears are full of olive oil, garlic, and foreign objects. This is entertaining for me, but usually less so for the patients. So I tend to recommend against the home remedies. Your business, of course...
Straight rubbing alcohol is spectacularly effective. It hurts almost everyone who tries it, badly dries out the skin of the ear canals, and just about has to have some kind of serious negative effects that I don't know about. I used to use it a lot on myself, and it always did the trick, though.
Ear candling can also be effective. In principal, the flaming roll/tube of paper gently warms the ear wax while producing a slight vacuum, which along with capillary action tends to pull the ear wax into the paper. There was a brief note in one of the recent audiological publications noting the number of people seen in the E.R. after setting themselves on fire while attempting to remove ear wax, however, so caveat emptor.
Custom ear plugs tend to run between $100 and $150 per pair. I use them along with muffs and am quite satisfied. They still tend to collect ear wax and shove it further into the canal, though.
The knock against Q-tips isn't so much that you can hurt yourself with them (you'd have to be a real numbskull to do it, IMO) but that it is very easy to use them like a ramrod and tamp your wax down into your canals. I see this at least once a week; a wad of ear wax near the ear drum, with a shiny dimple where it's been poked at with a swab.
And that's the end of that lecture!
The over-the-counter ear wax solutions can be very effective and are safe for most people, ie. those with intact eardrums, no infections or broken skin, etc. They are not very effective for completely occluded canals, however, as the solution needs to flow through and around the wax to work. With total occlusion, you still end up with an ear filled with a plug of wax, only now it's wet on one end.
In that situation, a doctor or nurse is your best and sometimes only recourse. Removal is within the scope of practice of any MD or RN, and anyone with a Masters or higher in audiology. None are required to do it, however, and may be more comfortable referring you to an ENT.
The two common methods of removal are mechanical removal and flushing. Mechanical removal can be uncomfortable. If the wax has been in there for a long time it can firmly adhere to the walls of the ear canal, which are rich in nerve endings. Many professionals will have patients use a softening agent like Debrox for a few days prior to removal. Flushing with hot water is normally more comfortable, but again, it is less effective for complete impactions. As "Buck Nekkid" pointed out, it will often make the patient dizzy, as the warm water sets into motion the fluid in the balance organs of the inner ear.
I see a lot of patients who have tried various other home remedies. I see these people because their ears are full of olive oil, garlic, and foreign objects. This is entertaining for me, but usually less so for the patients. So I tend to recommend against the home remedies. Your business, of course...
Straight rubbing alcohol is spectacularly effective. It hurts almost everyone who tries it, badly dries out the skin of the ear canals, and just about has to have some kind of serious negative effects that I don't know about. I used to use it a lot on myself, and it always did the trick, though.
Ear candling can also be effective. In principal, the flaming roll/tube of paper gently warms the ear wax while producing a slight vacuum, which along with capillary action tends to pull the ear wax into the paper. There was a brief note in one of the recent audiological publications noting the number of people seen in the E.R. after setting themselves on fire while attempting to remove ear wax, however, so caveat emptor.
Custom ear plugs tend to run between $100 and $150 per pair. I use them along with muffs and am quite satisfied. They still tend to collect ear wax and shove it further into the canal, though.
The knock against Q-tips isn't so much that you can hurt yourself with them (you'd have to be a real numbskull to do it, IMO) but that it is very easy to use them like a ramrod and tamp your wax down into your canals. I see this at least once a week; a wad of ear wax near the ear drum, with a shiny dimple where it's been poked at with a swab.
And that's the end of that lecture!
