Huge buildup of earwax - Help!

There is a huge buildup of earwax in my right ear and it is affecting my hearing by giving me tinnitus.. i know i shouldn't use a cotton bud to take it out but what else am I supposed to do? I tried putting olive oil drops but that had no effect

Reply 1

N/A IS THE NAME

If olive oil drops dont work then i think its best to go to the doctors. If u use cotton bud try not to push it in too far- very tempting.

Reply 2

Kindred

Original post by Hateocracy

You are totally right about the cotton buds. Using them will push the wax further in and tighter together making it harder to get out and risking perforating your eardrums.

Olive oil drops help soften wax. You'll need to use it for a while to get signifiant effects. Keep using it and after a couple of days you should notice some improvement.
You can also call your drs surgery and ask to book a syringing. Basically they wash out the wax. You need to soften it with drops first though so keep doing that either way.
Or you can get a kit to wash them out at home. They contain drops and a little tool for getting the water in your ear. Use the drops for a couple of days then gently squirt the water into your ears. Don't use too much force cos you have delicate eardrums and don't want to damage them. Using a tap or shower could also help in a similar way.

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 3

alain22

Original post by Hateocracy

Use the drops for a while then blast your ear with the shower worked for me

Reply 4

Vikingninja

Original post by Kindred

Don't necessarily need to put drops in first for the syringing though its recommended. I've needed it at home where I used a spray at home but had another one on a cruise when my ear became blocked and just did it there.

Reply 5

'Tetragrammaton'

I have an ongoing problem with earwax (I had to do it just the other day!) and typically what works for me is:

Warm up some olive oil, then drop it into your ear and lie down for ~five minutes with the offending ear facing towards the ceiling (be sure to get some kitchen towel or toilet paper to remove any oil running outside of your ear. This often happens). After, stand up and let the oil run out - you can either do this by just letting it run out or influencing it slightly by gently pulling your earlobe down and slightly out (away from the side of your face. I generally get a small bit of kitchen towel to cover my fingers, so that when it runs out, it goes onto the paper rather than your fingers). You can do this for a few days to see if the wax works its way out, which it should, or if you need to be slightly more immediate (and this is what I do, I don't know if it's the best thing to do, but), you can gently massage your ear to move the wax slightly. I typically put the tip of my index finger on the red dot and move it to the yellow dot (whilst pressing slightly. You must be gentle, but you must also feel that you are pressing down with your finger). You must be patient with this, as it really can take a little while, but if you keep doing that, the wax should work its way out (that's what happens with me).

If you need to look in your ear, I'd recommend getting a mirror that you can hold in one hand (hand mirror) and a normal wall mirror. With these, look directly into the mirror, then put the hand mirror behind your ear, but with the reflective surface facing towards the mirror. (So let's say that your problem ear is your right ear. You'd take the mirror with your right hand and hold it behind your ear, so that you have the other hand free.) With this, you should be able to see into your ear, at least a little on the outside if nothing else. If you can't, try to get a torch for your other hand, then just angle the torch/mirror appropriately until you can see down your ear. If a lot of it is on the outside (or on the inner part of the "tragus" of your ear) and any of it is removable, do so. I will say, if you have to stick your finger in, DON'T. Try to massage more if that's the case, and if it's hanging out, you can safely remove it (principle here is that you can remove any that you can without actually having to stick anything inside your ear).

Sorry if this was a bit long, I spend way too much time on my ears... But it's a lot simpler than it sounds!

Reply 6

EstelleA

Just keeping doing the olive oil drops, and if it’s still there, go to a doctors and they’ll prescribe you with medicated ear drops that should help.

Reply 7

Tiger Rag

Original post by EstelleA

Just keeping doing the olive oil drops, and if it’s still there, go to a doctors and they’ll prescribe you with medicated ear drops that should help.

You can buy the same drops over the counter.

Reply 8

Joinedup

if a bathtub is available have a hot but not scalding bath and keep your ears underwater for a few minutes (but obviously your nose and mouth should stay in the air)
then put some earwax destroying eardrops from the pharmacists in the worst ear when you get out and go have a lie down with that ear pointing up.

Syringing at the GP surgery is really effective and quick... and feels fantastic - though I heard they are less keen on doing it than they used to be

Reply 9

Foreverconfu

Go doctors they can flush it out with pressured water

Reply 10

S2M

Original post by Hateocracy

Go to the doctors first, they'll be able to syringe it which should make it better. Sometimes oil drops won't work.

Reply 11

S2M

Original post by Joinedup

Yeah that's true. I remember I had to get mine done from the GP and it wasn't very pleasant for either of us.

Reply 12

Joinedup

Original post by Black Water

Yeah that's true. I remember I had to get mine done from the GP and it wasn't very pleasant for either of us.

I thought it was lovely tbh - though my mum was a nurse and she'd always done it for me at home before I got to uni.

Suppose ultimately you learn to self manage it by eardrops / hot baths before it builds up to painful levels

Reply 13

klw18

Make an appointment to have them syringed. It's so quick and not painful at all. They'll ask you to use olive oil for a week or so, then spray the wax out with water.

Reply 14

Baniazz

The way you used olive oil might be wrong.first pout 2-3 drops of olive oil inside your ear and wait (somewhere around 2 -3 hours) then use a clean cotton cloth ,with the help of your little finger take them out slowly.
If this doesn`t work go to a doctor they`ll do the cleaning part for you.

Spoiler

Reply 15

S2M