I've had a lot of problem with my ears over the years. This weekend, we went swimming for 2 hours; it had been a very long time since I'd been swimming. My ears have been increasingly more stopped-up since Saturday, and today I can't hardly hear anything. Zero ambient noise, zero of much.. unless the boys are looking me in the eye and basically yelling at me, I don't hear them. Now I'm getting sharp pains along my jaw. Everyone I talk to tells me to get the wax out, but ERO isn't helping (I've also tried laying on a heating pad, and squirting warm water). Please pray for me. This is a very disconcerting feeling. I'm sure things will work themselves out, but I'm starting to feel a little... almost claustrophobic.
For sure, I would follow up on your friends' comments: Use a bulbous syringe and some warm water, and fire water into your ears with pressure. Sometimes it works for me; at other times, it doesn't. Still, it costs nothing, and almost always it does remove a lot of gunk.
I tried. So far, no good. My old ENT swore by a Water Pick (which he used in his office on patients), but they are very pricey. That will be my second-to-last resort (last being going to the doctor).
Not sure any of this is of any help (and you may know some of this), but I had looked up some herbal remedies for stopped up ears and earaches last week (mine ended up working itself out, but I seriously considered a few of these ideas). http://www.natural-homeremedies.org/homeremedies-earache.htm
Instead of using just warm water, try adding some hydrogen peroxide (diluted with the water; not neat). You'll hear bubbling and hissing if it's acting on hard wax.
If you think it's water trapped in the ear, you can use a 1:1 mixture of alcohol and vinegar to try to dry it out.
Thank you for praying! My left ear just now opened up a little! It's still not 100% and a bit sore, but at least I'm not almost completely deaf. I have alcohol drops. I used them Saturday when we first got out of the pool. I hadn't thought to keep using them once it was evident wax was the more likely culprit. And I'll try peroxide. I didn't realize it reacted with wax. Thank you for the prayers and practical suggestions!
Good grief! Here I thought I had a pretty good stash of homeopathy, but I'd have to be a regular kitchen witch to have these ingredients on hand. :lol:
:lol: I know! The garlic / sesame oil is one that intrigued me the most. Especially since it's something I'd have on hand.
Ear candling is a good way to remove built up wax. Most of the time you can find them at health food stores/ co-ops.
Yeah, I'm well-acquainted with candling. But the nearest health food store to me is now 45 minutes away. :roll: I did stick a funnel on the end of my hair dryer and used it (on low heat/low air) trying to recreate the same basic principle. No luck. My left ear closed off again. Despite several larger bits of wax coming out with the peroxide, I still can't hear. Because of a system upgrade at work, I absolutely cannot miss tomorrow or Wednesday, but if I'm not better by Thursday, I'm going to the doctor. That is, assuming I can even work. Right now, I doubt I could hear my customers.
I am not sure if this would help since you think ear wax is the issue, but thought I would through it out there. Anytime I have ear issues, I use an allergy pill and decongestant. I had to first do this with an ear infection, but now it is my go to. It may help to shrink/dry up any sinus issues that may be blocking the ear wax from getting out????
I've been putting HP in my ears, letting it soak for several minutes, then rinsing with a bulb syringe of warm water. Over and over and over. I also took a decongestant right before bed, and another this morning. I think my ears are worse today. I have 7 hours to get them unstopped before I have to be ready for work. I know this probably seems trivial, and if I didn't have to work it wouldn't be a huge deal (inconvenient? yes. awful? nope.). But I do have to work and it's a big night with a lot of issue because we're switching over all our computer systems. I have to be able to hear.
We have some residents who have had issues with wax build up in their ears and we've had to use olive oil drops in their ear for 5 days (twice a day) prior to going to the doctor to have them cleaned. Realize too, we have a totally different system than you guys do so going to the doctor here isn't the expense that you have in the US. Praying that it all works out for you and hope you feel better soon
This was going to be my suggestion, too....we've used these all summer after swimming and my kids have not gotten the typical swimmer's ear this year!
At this point, I'd go to the doctor... except that I can't until Thursday (because I work tonight and tomorrow, and DH is at work during the day so he can't stay home with the boys). You're the second person today to suggest olive oil, though, so I'm going to try it.
It's a common thing we use around here before having the procedure done around here and it does work (can you imagine being hard of hearing in the first place, using hearing aids and then having a wax blockage impeding your hearing.... oh my!). It may losen it up enough on its own with just the olive oil alone that you might not need to seek any further medical intervention, but I can't say that for sure.
No. I'm assuming, at this point, that it's water. I can't fathom how there could be any wax left. ha! I'm using drops of 1:1 alcohol/vinegar (I've had several people suggest that) with no help. And about three hours ago I started running a bit of a fever. Nothing awful, but a fever none-the-less. So I'm alternating with the garlic/oil drops (garlic will help any infection). I don't work again until Tuesday, so I'm really going to try to get through the weekend without a doctor visit. This may sound really silly to you all, but my dog's paws swelled up today, horrifically, and if they aren't better by morning, I'm going to use my doctor money on a vet visit.
