Earwax !
 

I've been totally blocked in my right ear for about 3 weeks now, after a trip to a waterpark in San Jose. I've used oil & carbomide peroxide to try to break it up, but it's not working fast enough for my liking. I've been told something about ear candles, supposed to clear it all out, but can't figure out how to make one work. Tried to make a cone of out newsprint, but nothing came of that but a pile of ash on the bedspread.

Any help ??? Sucks not being able to hear

bah, get a large-barrel syringe - minus the needle, fill it with luke warm water, and shoot it in your ear. That's how they do it at the hospital. Be ready for a BIG old ball of ear wax to come shooting out though, so you might wanna do it over the toilet ;)

They did that to my friend's brother, but with hydrogen peroxide. Dropped a big chunk out of his head.

Agave, call around to local salons in your area - I have had my ears coned (aka ear candling) , and it works sooo much better than the water, peroxide, or anything else I've ever used. Because of my hearing aid, I get it worse than normal, and had swimmer's ear for quite a while. They will have the neccessary materials and know how to do it correctly.

I recall a study on ear candling, where they conclusively proved that the "wax" collected by the ear candle was not the same wax as was in your ear... ah, here's a review of the article:
If you hit Google Search: ear candling, you will find a number of articles that explain the dangers and lack of benefits.

See a doctor.

I'v had the same problem. The problem is, depending on how impacted the cerumen (earwax) is, trying to remove is yourself may be an exercise in futility. Your best bet is to contact an Ear, Nose, and Throat Doctor (ENT) and have them remove it. I recently had this done, it was an uncomfortable procedure, but it was worth it to be able to hear again. Prevention is key after having the plug removed. Use an eardropper to apply a couple drops of mineral oil 3x a week should prevent any future buildups. And never use cotton swabs to try and remove wax, it just pushes it in further and causes further impaction. (at least this is the advice my doc gave me 3 weeks ago) .

Good luck.

Redlemon - thanks for mentioning that, although in my experience, it seemed to have worked. I'd had swimmer's ear for 3 months that was NOT reacting to the antibiotics, and the wax she showed me was very porous and white in one of the ears, as that had been my infection. Since I went, I have had no problems with that ear at all - even my audiologist commented on that it had been completely removed.

I'm still out to lunch on that whole ear coning thing, but everything I've read about it says it's dangerous and probably not a good idea.

On the other hand, most doctors say that herbal remedies and homeopathic medicine (something I swear by) are dangerous and not a good idea.

If you get your ears coned, make sure you're going to someone who knows what they're doing!!

And, as always, there is the Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor!

Interesing, amonkie. I have no experience in anything like this, I can only go by what I read. I'm glad it seems to have helped you out, but based on the studies I've seen, I can't imagine how it did. But, there's lots I don't understand.

Well, this past sunday I went to the local clinica, because according to the hotel manager here, that's the day the "oida" specialist is in. He said to just keep using the carbamide peroxide 2x a day for a few weeks. It's starting to slowly open up, I figure I have about 60% of the hearing back in the ear. I don't see how the candling thing works either, but lots of people see to rave about it.
Tried some extra virgin olive oil in there too for several days, didn't seem to do much at all for it.

I had this problem a few months ago, and I went to a walk-in clinic to get it flushed. The doctor warned me that the procedure could permanently damange my hearing, but I couldn't hear as it was, so I gave it a shot. As shakran said they just take a monsterous syringe and wash your ear over and over again with warm water. What came out was shocking, and the doctor told me that prevention (mineral oil) on a regular basis was the way to go.

But if you've gone past the point of prevention, go to the doctor.

agave,
on my last scuba diving trip in mexico i got "agua en los oidos."
i somewhat enjoyed my reduced hearing...
the world is fuckin noisy.

anyway, after a few days,
when i realized i couldn't hear my son well,
i asked some of the locals and they pointed me to the "velas mayas"
the mayan ear candles.
they're long and thin and hollow.
you place one open end in your ear,
tilt the candle 45 degrees and light the end AWAY from your ear.

i was a doubter. very skeptical,
but i thoguht it couldn't hurt.
it didn't.
something about the candle helped.
i could hear again.
but like a dumbass, i went diving again.
then had to do the candle thing.
it worked again.

i don't know how or why.
and don't care.
it worked for me.

good luck!

a couple drops of tea tree oil also helped for me. it helped with the syringe method. tea tree oil will dry it out and kill any germs/crap thats growing in there.

the last time I was in taiwan I had problems with my ears thanks to all the flying I had been doing...

My client took me to a spa for massage and they had a woman there that could clean my ears... she spent about an hour using picks and fluffy qtips thoroughly cleaning my ears... followed by oils, etc.... never felt better. The crud she pulled out was awesome...

took another trip to the farmacia for some carbamide peroxide, they were out, so saw the medio at the clinica instead. Turns out it was some infection, took some antibiotics & pumped it out with warm water. Washed out like 3 hunks from each ear, about the size of a cheerio each. Hearing is actually better in both ears now.

So for future reference for myself, water = best method.