Best way to get rid of ear wax?
 

I think I've got an earwax problem, but I have no idea how to get rid of it. Q-tips only push earwax deeper, and that's the only thing I know.

How do you get rid of earwax?

Eh not sure if there's a surefire way to get rid of it. (Myself having problems with this for as long as I can remember) there are some over the counter drops you put in your ears every week and they seem to minimize the problem. Or if all else fails go to a doctor and get your ears drained (had this done a few times also) works like a charm :-p (Also q-tips are bad news for the most part, especially if you put them in too far, it's not good :-O) but anyway, im not a doctor or anything I'm just telling you what my doc told me for my problem : P hope it helps some!

Murine sells a kit - drops to loosen the wax, and a rubber bulb you can fill with warm water and squeeze to force a thin stream into your ear and rinse the wax out. You can get it at any drugstore. It'll unplug even the worst of problems (if used aggresively); or use it once a month to prevent excessive buildup. Once you've purchased the kit, you only need to replace the drops afterward.

And don't use Q-tips - it just packs it in tighter.

I use earcandles. They work for me.

I don't know if this is advisable, but I just use my pinky. Cheap and efficient way. But don't do it too much, I've caused my ears to bleed before.

use this. It's extremely comfortable!

I know your probably not supposed to do this but I've done it for years and I've even had my Dr comment on how clean my ears were of wax. I use a hair pin. It's cheap. I run it under hot water and scoop the wax out with the looped end. Then run it under water again. Obviously you don't want to go too deep but to get the potatoe patches out from the outer edges it works great. Only possible problem I know of is if you have very small ear cannals. Then the other methods mentioned work just fine.

do a search on "ear candling" i get this done every so often.

pinky finger works great for me...

My family has been using this home remedy for years but everyone thinks I am crazy when I tell them but, here ya go: get a sheet of notebook paper, make it look like a funnell, place the small side of the funnell in your ear and lite the wide side on fire....the heat is suppose to realease air pressure built up by the amount of wax in your ear...after a little while you will see a small puff of smoke a darker shade than the normal smoke and you should feel a lot better....it works for everyone I know

Well, I think I'll take a pass on the burning notebook paper, but the Murine kit works; I used it once long ago.

Some people get it really bad, especially surfers and other people who spend a lot of time in the water. To the point where they can't really hear. If nothing else works, go to a medical clinic -- a standard doc-in-the-box will do -- and they'll flush your ears out. You'll be amazed at how much junk comes out of your ears.

Are you supposed to have a lot of earwax? I listen to music on headphones 2 hours a day, but when I go to clean my ears I get next to nothing on the Q Tip or finger.

how exactly does the doctor flush your ears out?

The dissolving drops work. There are several brands to choose from.

Last diving season I forgot to prep my ears before my first dive. Ended up getting a major ear infection cuz' water got trapped in there by all the earwax. Arrrghhhh.

Oh...BTW....

I had my ears cleaned one time by my doctor. Er...I wish it was by my doctor. Instead he sent in a very hot young nurse. I was trying to stud up while shot got out her little tool, a long metal rod with a tiny ring on the end to grab the wax. When she pulled out the first clump I was like...sniff...what the hell is that?

Your wax sir.

Damn did I feel like a dork. :(

(Removed text -- see the link in my next post, below, to an earwax page that describes the various treatments.)

Some people hardly make any, others make a lot. Europeans make "wet" earwax with a high fat content, which is more gooey, while Asians are more likely to make "dry" earwax, which is more crumbly.

Here's a page with practically everything a sane person would want to know about earwax:

http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com...ring/wax2.html

Whatever you do, don't eat it. It tastes aweful.

Does the "Ear Candling" technique have any drawbacks? Like burnt ear canals or smoked ear drums?

I like to use the tweezers from my Swiss Army knife. Just chip away and Q-tip the rest.

Really effective if you have a cokenail aswell........

I also have a problem with ear wax. I've been told by a doctor to use hydrogen peroxide to clean my ears once a month (half a bottle in each ear). I get in the shower, poor some in my ear, let it do it's thing for a few seconds, let it drain out and repeat. I also got a hold of a large plastic syringe to flush out wax with. I've been to a couple ear doctors to have ear wax removed before and that's pretty much what they used. Once when the wax was packed so bad that I couldn't hear, I used the hydrogen peroxide to soften it, and then got it out with water and the syringe. I've tried the over the counter ear wax removal kits and they never seem to work for me.

Ear candling sounds pretty bogus to me. The Straight Dope agrees with me on this.

Have you ever had the ear wax falvored Jelly Bellys, they actually aren't too bad. As for Q-tips, my ex is in nursing school and she had to irrigate a guys ears because he couldn't hear practically anything, inside each ear was the broken off end of a Q-tip. He didn't even know they were up there. From what I hear it was pretty gross, they were up there several days.

I have asian friends who swear by this stuff, but I have never tried. I am interested though and would like to give it a shot just to see how they work.

The way I have always done it is to use a bobby pin and just scoop it on out. This isn't something you should do to yourself, you should have someone (hopefully someone who loves you very much and can forgive the ooginess) do it for you or you can hurt yourself. It works better than any other method I have ever tried. You should see the mound of wax that I get out of my girlfriend's ears.

Go to a convinence store in chinatown and ask for something to scrap our ear wax. They usually have those special scopes.

PS: Just another reason why any culture is better than western culture.

And remember...it's ok to use your truck keys to clean out your ears...as long as thier your truck keys.

Seriously, go buy that Cerumex (sp?) stuff and irrigate away!

Mine got so clogged up one time that I literally couldn't hear out of one ear. I didnt' know what that was at the time. The Murine bulb and drops worked wonders.

Go to a doctor if you think you have "too much earwax" . Earwax is there to help keep germs and dirt out of your inner ear. Some earwax is normal. If its oozing or something, have a Dr check it out.

You know, I just use q-tips and I've never had a problem. I put them in until just before it touches my eardrum, after a shower when the wax is soft, and it's all good.

This thread is gross! :lol:

I can't say that I've ever had a problem with ear wax. Q-tips every day after a shower..

Awesome thread everyone.

Hey - nobody said good health is always pretty :)

I wear a hearing aid, so my dr attempts to clean out my backup of wax with a small scraper or with flushing. Neither was worked sufficiently enough in the past to keep me from getting a swimmer's ear infection. The antibiotic drops did nada, also. Ear candling, aka ear coning, I've found, to be the most effective way to remove the wax. The gal doing the coning showed me the infection in the wax, and boy, was I glad to know it was out of my ear. My reccomendation would be pay the extra couple of bucks to get it done right. That'll solve any possible problems of causing any damage to your sensitive ears.

Hey, my mom would do this to me she would pour a cap full of hydrogen proxide in my ear it would bubble and push all the dirt and ear wax up then when you think your done then put a towel on your ear and let it drain out you can see all the gross things.
WEll, my boy firend is asian, so his sister uses this tiny tiny spoon that has a budah head on the top of it.
It is really small like a tooth pic but a little bigger, if some one does it to you they can use a flash light to scrape off the wax.
If you do it your self you place it in the ear then drag it back out,
I dont have problems so I dont use it I use q-tips and some times
q-tips with a dab of proxide on it.
The doctor could do what they do to little kids and put tubes in
your ears.
For the asian thing just go to an asian store like said befoe and look for the little spoon type of thing or ask for it most asians now of days speak english but you might have to listen very carefully.

Ear candles are safe and fun. Seriously, the bulb is the way to go. Just make sure the water isn't too hot. That's not so good.