Shhhhhhh!
For years I've had problems with my ears. Get water in 'em, can't hear. Lay down, can't hear. Most of the time, they're mostly clear, but I do spend a lot of time tugging on them. Last couple of trips to the doctor, I was just told to use the drops. Drops haven't been working.
Today I got out of the shower and couldn't hear for shit out of either ear. Fly Girl told me to quit being a martyr and just go to urgent care. So I go to urgent care. The doctor takes one look, confirms that I ought to be growing potatoes in there, and sends a nurse to flush them out.
The nurse filled up a bucket with warm water, grabbed a giant syringe, told me to let her know if I felt any dizziness, and then went to town. I used to get this done a lot when I was a kid. It kind of tickles. Feels like you're trying to flush something out from between the folds of your brain.
(I was also thinking of Lachlan the whole time. I think she told me once about being a med tech in a past life and having to flush out ears and guys have much waxier ears than girls do. Or something.)
I had no idea that ears could hold so much crap. She showed me all the wax that came out. There was a freaking lot of it. I said that while I felt much better for me, I felt badly for her. She assured me she'd seen much worse. I got three syringes full of water in each ear, and she rooted around some with a little stick.
An hour and a half and $35 later, I feel like I have super bat hearing. I told the nurse she was my favorite person this week. Seriously, I thought the sound of my keys jangling was gonna blow my head open.
So, while I've had a built in pair of earplugs for years, I can't wait to go to bed and not have everything automatically tune out as soon as I go horizontal.
I highly recommend it to everyone.
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I promise to keep tonights outbursts of laughter to a dull roar.
;)
You recollect correctly, m'dear. :) I haaaaated doing ear washes. And yes, guy's ears were ALWAYS more waxy!
Glad it helped. Don't wait so long next time. ;-)
I had this done when I was little (29 now, probably 7 then). I have always wondered should I have it done again? Like rotating the tires or changing the oil? How do I know to have it done? I guess ask the doctor when I go for a tune up, er, ah, check up.
I say ask for it. I mean, I suppose if you're not having any hearing problems you probably don't need it. But what the hell, go ahead. Then you won't have to do it for another 22 years.
Oh man, awesomely awesome. I have always been fascinated by this procedure and my college roommate and my sister have both had it done... but no one invited me along to watch!
Maybe because I'm the sick kind of person who would like to watch.
I only find that a little bit weird. You should have it done yourself. Surely your own earwax is just as fascinating as other people's.
I had this done one time by one of the cutest men I had ever seen. I thought "I meet the world's cutest man - and he has to de-gunkify my ears. My luck."
He DID not give me his phone number.
If you like the flushing-with-water method, you'd love the motorized vaccuum! I had this done last year after a series of ear infections -- the doctor basically puts what looks like a plastic coffee stirrer into your ear, only it's attached to a wet/dry shop vac. The noise is deafening... until he finishes. You feel amazing. It's the best invention ever. (sorry if this grosses anyone out, but I also, am obsessed with earwax!).
I've never even heard of the ear vacuum. Fascinating.
I, of course, shared this story with my co-workers, who suggested the ear candling as well. It cracks me up that wikipedia's reference for ear candling is the Colon Therapists Network.
I heard that ear candling is bad, bad, bad! Like quack job bad. Maybe it was one of those Dateline specials? Can't remember where I heard that, I just remember that it totally freaked me out.
I'm glad you can hear better now. I Q-Tip my ears at least twice a day, not necessarily to remove the earwax (that's just an added bonus), but just because it feels good to scratch around a little in there. My ears canals are alway itchy.
From what I've read, ear candling doesn't do much. You start with a funnel made out of waxed paper and most of the wax that comes out is from the wax melting off the paper. But some people swear by it.
I would get it done myself, but so far I haven't had any problems to justify it. Plus, I wouldn't get to watch it happening.
Maybe I should just put beans in all of my friends' ears...
By "it" I meant the whole crazy water-flushing thing, not candling. The vacuum sounds fun too.
it feels good to scratch around a little in there -- It totally does! I have learned that I can only do that when my ears are wet and the wax is melty. Otherwise it just gunks up the works. Guaranteed pluggage. It might not be so much of a problem anymore.
I know people (doctors) say that the Q-Tips are bad and actually pack the wax in there worse. That could be part of why mine got so bad.
It depends on how you USE the q-tips, actually. If you're careful, you can remove some of the excess without causing blockage.
But some people -like you, Erica- just produce a lot of it, and will always need a periodic ear wash. Most people can go 6mo to a year between washings.
Sherri's right- stay away from the candling, btw.
I don't know if this a southernism or common practice but as a kid my mom use to "boil out my ears" using hydrogen peroxide. She'd just pour a cap in there, pull my ear around a bit and all the wax would pop to the top.
I've tried that before. The tingly bubbly feeling and the crackly sound is fun. I worried that I was drying my sensitive ears all out, though.
Egad! Another prime example of a problem I never knew I had.
Are you really supposed to do it every year? If so I'm about uh, 30some years over due...
Off to do some ear washing research.
OMG, MJ, you should totally do it. Besides the obvious benefit of improved hearing, it feels so fresh and so clean!
I should probably have that done - my ears always feel clogged (part of me wonders if my sinus problems are partly to blame, since the whole shebang is connected), and overly enthusiastic picking and Q-tipping is what led to those nasty ear infections I had last year. The doctor told me to lay off the Q-tips, and while I went through withdrawal the first month or so, the withdrawal was infinitely better than the alternative. Something to think about...