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Ear blockage.

Ray Holt

Ray Holt

Mar 7, 2006
1,446
1
39
Fort Montgomery, NY
#1
Hey guys,

Last night I went to clean out my ear with a q-tip (I know lots of people say "ZOMG DON'T PUT THOSE IN UR EAR!!"), and I know not to go too far or anything, or push hard.

I'm pretty sure what happened is that the ball of wax that was in there got kinda smushed/packed in by the Q-tip so it made my ear really muffled and such... and I HATE that feeling. Absolutely hate it.

I'm about to take a nice hot shower, hoping the heat/steam might loosen it up and help it work it's way out. If not, what kinda stuff can you do about this?

-Ray
 
#8
Happens to me once every 5 years or so. +1 on the earwax removal kit. It may take a few tries (only try once a day or it will get sore) but it works.

Once I had it blocked for 3-4 days. When I finally got it out it was like someone had turned up the treble on my right ear to 11! That lasted a few hours, it was kind of cool. ;)
 
#9
Hydrogen peroxide works pretty well. Lie on your side, fill up your ear and let it bubble for awhile. (maybe 5 minutes or so) Rinse and repeat. The peroxide will loosen and bubble tons of crap out. If you haven't cleaned your ears in awhile you might have to do it a few days in a row but it'll get you clean and clear.
 
#11
A bulb syringe and warm water will usually get the big blobs of wax out after a few rinses.

When you fill the syringe, make sure you get all the air out, or else the bubbles will interrupt the water flow. That seems to severely kill the effectiveness of the water stream. I do it by squeezing the bulb, immersing it in a large bowl of warm water (holding it nozzle end up), releasing the bulb, and then gently squeezing and releasing repeatedly until no more bubbles come out.

It's gratifying to see those big chunks of wax fall out into the sink. Sometimes I'm surprised there isn't a wick in some of them.

I'd try it with just warm water first. If you need something more effective, there are carbamide peroxide ear drops that you drip into your ear canal and let soak for a while. The liquid develops bubbles that help break up and loosen the wax, making it easier to flush out with a syringe. However, the stuff tends to dry out the skin in the ear canal, so use the drops only if you need to and not too often. I've heard of using olive oil as an emollient to soften ear wax, but I haven't tried it.
 
#12
OK, here's the solution.
have a very close friend,(GF preferably), dab a little water from a damp sponge on and around the OPPOSITE ear - the one that's not blocked. Just make sure s/he gets a thin film of water all around-and not inside- the ear itself.

-have s/he place their mouth over that ear completely, so that the ear is wholly in the mouth, with lips pressed up against the skin behind and around the ear.
-With the moist film around it, it should form an airtight seal. It may take some practice to get just right so have them keep trying until they get it right - good and airtight, that's very important.
-Once they've established an absolute airtight seal, they can then remove the blockage by:

a) inhaling, *HARD*, this will dislodge the blockage, pulling it through the opposite ear and into the mouth of your assistant. They can either spit it out into a nearby garbage or just chew for a while as it makes for a good faux chewing gum. A small dab of powdered sugar applied can assist with the flavor.
OR
b) exhaling/blowing *HARD*, this will cause the blockage to shoot forth with great speed and velocity. It is very highly recommended that all pets, and people should, under no circumstances, be allowed to stand facing that ear at this time as it has been known to cause injury. For good measure, a sturdy plywood board should be positioned facing that ear to block the projectile. paint a target on it for fun.

just thought I'd share that as it's worked for me on several ocassions
 
#13
Relic said:
OK, here's the solution.
have a very close friend,(GF preferably), dab a little water from a damp sponge on and around the OPPOSITE ear - the one that's not blocked. Just make sure s/he gets a thin film of water all around-and not inside- the ear itself.

-have s/he place their mouth over that ear completely, so that the ear is wholly in the mouth, with lips pressed up against the skin behind and around the ear.
-With the moist film around it, it should form an airtight seal. It may take some practice to get just right so have them keep trying until they get it right - good and airtight, that's very important.
-Once they've established an absolute airtight seal, they can then remove the blockage by:

a) inhaling, *HARD*, this will dislodge the blockage, pulling it through the opposite ear and into the mouth of your assistant. They can either spit it out into a nearby garbage or just chew for a while as it makes for a good faux chewing gum. A small dab of powdered sugar applied can assist with the flavor.
OR
b) exhaling/blowing *HARD*, this will cause the blockage to shoot forth with great speed and velocity. It is very highly recommended that all pets, and people should, under no circumstances, be allowed to stand facing that ear at this time as it has been known to cause injury. For good measure, a sturdy plywood board should be positioned facing that ear to block the projectile. paint a target on it for fun.

just thought I'd share that as it's worked for me on several ocassions
Click to expand...

Well thats just the craziest thing I've ever heard.:eyebrow:
 
#15
If you're insured, just go to the doctor and get it taken care of. It'll take like 5 minutes, and you won't have to worry about accidentally lodging some strange object in your ear canal.

Better yet, if you're a college student, you can pop down to your school's health center and have them clean you out. I've gone this route once, myself.
 
#16
Use one of these. They work great.

ear_pick_kitty_blog.jpg


You have to be careful. We lay down our heads on each others laps and put on the camping head-flashlight deals so we can see down the ear. Keeps your ear really clean. It's a Japanese thing. You can get them at any Japanese market.
 
#18
lol this happened to me like a month a go, i seriously thought i was deph in my left ear. your doctor has this special seringe they stick in your ear to remove a lot of the jammed in stuff. peroxide works sometimes, but all it does is gets rid of whats not jammed in there. just go to the doctor bro, he'll know what the problem is.
 

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