Cleaning out your horrid ear canals

[biggestmexi]

What is the best way to clean your ears out?

I heard that you shouldnt put anything in your ear bigger than your elbow from a company physical physician (phy phy phy) AKA q-tip.

How well do these candles work? What about the Air thing that blows it out backwards?

Or can you just take a warm shower and tilt your head under that? Will This cause swimmers ear? I had that before and WOWZA.


Thanks,

Aaron

[Dr Steve]

What is the best way to clean your ears out?

I heard that you shouldnt put anything in your ear bigger than your elbow from a company physical physician (phy phy phy) AKA q-tip.

How well do these candles work? What about the Air thing that blows it out backwards?

Or can you just take a warm shower and tilt your head under that? Will This cause swimmers ear? I had that before and WOWZA.


Thanks,

Aaron

Aaron:

Assuming you don't have any holes in your eardrums or any other ear problems, you can safely clean out your ears by using the technique of lavage.

The easiest way to lavage your ears is by using a MURINE EAR KIT. You can buy one at any pharmacy, and you'll get a rubber bulb syringe and a little bottle of glycerine/peroxide solution.

To clean a clogged ear, lie down with the clogged ear pointing up to the ceiling. Instill around 5-10 drops of the solution into your ear canal...you'll hear it foaming and bubbling in there, loosening up all that waxy goodness. Watch half an episode of Seinfeld or something, keeping that ear pointing up and filled with solution and then you're ready for the next step.

Now, fill a sink with lukewarm water. It really should be body temp...hotter and you risk hurting your ear, colder and you risk giving yourself vertigo (it's a long story, just trust me on this one). Turn your head so the clogged ear now points at the water. Fill up the bulb syringe and gently insert it into your ear canal. Gently squeeze the bulb, lavaging your ear canal with the jet of lukewarm water. After two or three tries, you should notice a massive glob of hairy wax sinking under the water. NICE!

Repeat on other ear.

Regarding "Ear Candles", they are complete and utter worthless bullshit. The junk you see on the end of the candle has been proven to come from the candle itself. If you don't believe me, wrap the end of one in a moist towel and stuff it in a glass to simulate the ear. Light the other end and examine the wrapped end after it burns...amazingly, there's wax on the end of the candle! Apparently the towel had earwax in it too.

NO QTIPS...they just push the wax back or puncture your eardrum. "Molto Male", as the italians say (or Bura hein, as Hindi speakers would say).

Regarding the shower thing...I speak from experience: the stream is WAY too powerful in most showers; I dislocated my stupid middle ear bones doing this crap and it's NOT RECOMMENDED. use the bulb syringe instead and be gentle with yourself.

hope this helps!



steve

[biggestmexi]

Awesome thanks for the info.

Now I go to douche my ear!:happy:

And do you have any recommendations about Vertigo.

I honestly get it a few times a month. Asked my doctor and he gave me Mecklazine.

But it doesnt only happen moving. I could be sitting and BAM dizzy as shit and (damnit) nashis (god damnit i know i spelled it wrong)

[tdawg420]

that was a good question. Dr. Steve rocks. I like the in-depth-ness of it all. I'm a huge Q-Tip guy. I was actually wondering the best way to clean out an ear and was thinking about trying the candle thing lol. I'll have to try that stuff too. I'd like a nice clean ear for once in my life. And a colon too actually. Clean my innards right out. but yeah I'm ramblin on - led zeppelin PEACE

-Trevor

[ANC]

Hey Dr. Steve! :bye:

Are you saying it's not good to use Q-Tips at all or just when you really want to clean your ears thoroughly?

[Jujubees2]

Hey Dr. Steve! :bye:

Are you saying it's not good to use Q-Tips at all or just when you really want to clean your ears thoroughly?

I used a Q-Tip to just clean the outer ear but don't insert it into the canal.

[Lawson]

This is who I go to whenever I find I have a foreign body lodged in my ear...

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t291/MrLawsonsPics/1799930862_2fd81e9abe.jpg

and he makes a lick-ass curry chicken

[Chigworthy]

So the ear candles don't work? Next thing you're gonna tell us is that ground up sun bear penis doesn't give gigantic erections, and sticking maxipads on your feet doesn't suck all the heavy metals out of your body. I thought eastern medicine was infallible.

[JustJon]

I did ear candling once, and I gotta say that it felt good, but ultimately had no real effect. I use the murine kits and they work brilliantly. And the spray of water in the ear feels good.

[fezident]

And a colon too actually. Clean my innards right out.

-Trevor

Colon cleansing doesn't provide any REAL benefits. There's plenty of evidence to support that although.... it might have a psychological benefit.

[Dr Steve]

Hey Dr. Steve! :bye:

Are you saying it's not good to use Q-Tips at all or just when you really want to clean your ears thoroughly?

Sorry, my browser isn't telling me when I have pending posts in the forum...I'll try to be more vigilant!

You can, indeed, use QTips for the outside of your ear, but don't stick 'em in the canal, ok? They just push crap around and can impact wax even worse than before.

your pal,


steve

[MobCounty]

I tried the ear candle a couple times, I could swear it worked, but then I read some shit on the web that said it was a scam...

a quick search will have you avoiding ear candles.

[Dr Steve]

I tried the ear candle a couple times, I could swear it worked, but then I read some shit on the web that said it was a scam...

a quick search will have you avoiding ear candles.

I just hate the whole ear candle scam. It's just so easy to disprove. Here are a couple of ways you can convince yourself that they're worthless:

1) go buy a really cheap otoscope (ear canal viewer). It used to be that only doctors had these, but now you can buy one at most pharmacies for less than $20.00. Find someone with a cerumen impaction and look in their ear with the otoscope. Note the mass of brown wax clogging the ear canal. Now shove an ear candle in there, turn the ear up, and light it (be careful you don't burn your dumb self, or your friend). After it's done, look at the "wax" on the end of the candle. Then use the otoscope to confirm for yourself that all you did was impact the wax further into the ear with the stupid candle.


2) Stick a candle into a glass and light it...watch the 'ear wax' magically appear on the end of the candle...it must be transporting the wax out of your ear magically!

there are more ways, but it just irritates me to think of it. I'm cool with "alternative" medicine, truly, and we've talked about it on Ron and Fez, but ear candles are just assinine.

Check out this article from the scientific literature:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8849790?ordinalpos=4&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsP anel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

[pauljay]

I've heard that using tea tree oil on the end of a Q tip is meant to be good, clean ears as it provides anti-bacterial and disolves the wax. I haven't actually tried that though, I might!

Thanks

Paul

[Bob Impact]

Lately i've been using the shower method more and more, you just use your hand as a diffuser.

[CountryBob]

Doc, you mentioned above that: Assuming you don't have any holes in your eardrums or any other ear problems, you can safely clean out your ears by using the technique of lavage.

What would happen if you did try the Murine technique and also had holes in your eardrums? My left ear has been ringing for 15 years nonstop and when checked out by an ear doctor, they just left it up to tennitis - but never said anything about possible holes in eardrums.. How would you know if you had holes?
Also, during my testing to figure out why my ear keeps ringing, they flushed cold water in my ears while having me blindfolded and stimulated vertigo. Felt like being sucked down a dark toilet - it was terrible.

[EddieMoscone]

http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/hearing/images/mimi2.jpg

My wife is Japanese and introduced me to these; Mimikaki, a japanese ear pick. I LOVE them.

[StanUpshaw]

I tried the Murine last night, and now my ears still have water trapped in them. What do I do now?

[PapaBear]

I tried the Murine last night, and now my ears still have water trapped in them. What do I do now?
Even after flushing with the syringe?

[jennysmurf]

I tried the Murine last night, and now my ears still have water trapped in them. What do I do now?

That happens to me too. Did you have to have tubes in your ears as a child? I wondered if that had anything to do with it.

[StanUpshaw]

Even after flushing with the syringe?

Yes, surprisingly enough, flushing my ears with water did not help the whole water in the ear situation.

That happens to me too. Did you have to have tubes in your ears as a child? I wondered if that had anything to do with it.

Not that I know of.

[PapaBear]

Yes, surprisingly enough, flushing my ears with water did not help the whole water in the ear situation.



Not that I know of.
Weird. After I flush mine, the water stays there for less than a minute, then rushes out all at once. I have to keep my head tilted the whole time, though.

[StanUpshaw]

The box says to repeat the treatment twice a day for up to 4 days, so I guess I'll try that.

Maybe there's an a ton of junk in there keeping stuff trapped. I didn't get that disgusting glob of wax and hair that Dr. Steve had me so excited about.

[jennysmurf]

Yes, surprisingly enough, flushing my ears with water did not help the whole water in the ear situation.

:happy:

Not that I know of.

Hmmmmm...then I have no idea what causes it. I'll have to re-think my "ear tube" theory. I haven't tried it again since the first time a few months ago, because the water left in my ear drove me nuts. If you figure it out, let me know.

[StanUpshaw]

I've always been afraid that I did some damage to my ears when I was younger.

You see, when all the other children were making fart noises with their armpits, I couldn't do it and I felt left out. When I discovered I could make similar fart noises using my ear and a wet palm, I did it incessantly. I never noticed any apparent damage or hearing loss, but maybe I fucked something up.

[opie's twisted balls]

When I discovered I could make similar fart noises using my ear and a wet palm, I did it incessantly
I think waxy ears are the least of your worries :huh:

[StanUpshaw]

I think waxy ears are the least of your worries :huh:

I'm among illustrious company:

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mIUQCO0PPIs&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mIUQCO0PPIs&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[opie's twisted balls]

After watching that video I have a sudden urge to kill a kitten

[ScottFromGA]

a douche for the ear...I must try this system out.

when I was younger, my mom would just turn our heads on the side and pour a cap full of peroxide in our ears. It felt weird, but after a few minutes it would be ready for turning and you could see all the gunk just pour out onto the towel. I never thought about the temp of it causing vertigo....last time I really did it, which was about 6 or more years ago, I poured it in cold and after I got it all out, I couldn't do anything.....I was so dizzy and sick feeling that it scared me from doing it again.

[MetalChild]

I saw this post on youtube and it horrified and in the same time amazed me, watch till the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9FyA5iCYhA&feature=player_embedded

[opie's twisted balls]

I saw this post on youtube and it horrified and in the same time amazed me, watch till the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9FyA5iCYhA&feature=player_embedded
nice!!!!!

my colon is cleaner than that chicks ears

and snappy soundtrack

[pennington]

Don't mess with your ear drums, you could do permanent damage. Make an appointment with an ENT (Ear Nose and Throat) doctor.

I just went a few weeks ago. My left ear always gets blocked first, maybe it's the way I sleep. Then my right ear blocked too and, as you know, it drives you nuts. The doctor basically speared the hard wax, loosened it and pulled it out. The wax in my right was bad but the chunk he pulled out of my left ear was so big I never would have gotten it out myself.

Go to a doctor who specializes in this. Years ago, I worked with a guy who went to one of those Immedia-Care places and the doctor there accidentally poked a hole in his ear canal (luckily it wasn't his ear drum).

[zentraed]

Don't mess with your ear drums, you could do permanent damage. Make an appointment with an ENT (Ear Nose and Throat) doctor.

I just went a few weeks ago. My left ear always gets blocked first, maybe it's the way I sleep. Then my right ear blocked too and, as you know, it drives you nuts. The doctor basically speared the hard wax, loosened it and pulled it out. The wax in my right was bad but the chunk he pulled out of my left ear was so big I never would have gotten it out myself.

Go to a doctor who specializes in this. Years ago, I worked with a guy who went to one of those Immedia-Care places and the doctor there accidentally poked a hole in his ear canal (luckily it wasn't his ear drum).

I went to see an ENT last year for a thyroid nodule, and the first thing he did was clean out my ears. There was some horribly high pitched vacuum involved and he managed to pull out some pretty big chunks as well. First time they'd been cleared in at least 20 years.

[goreds2]

http://www.optik-sattler.at/links/hoergeraete/ursachen%20fur%20hoerverlust/Ear-Wax-Blockage-cd.jpg

[Pitdoc]

Don't mess with your ear drums, you could do permanent damage. Make an appointment with an ENT (Ear Nose and Throat) doctor.

I just went a few weeks ago. My left ear always gets blocked first, maybe it's the way I sleep. Then my right ear blocked too and, as you know, it drives you nuts. The doctor basically speared the hard wax, loosened it and pulled it out. The wax in my right was bad but the chunk he pulled out of my left ear was so big I never would have gotten it out myself.

Go to a doctor who specializes in this. Years ago, I worked with a guy who went to one of those Immedia-Care places and the doctor there accidentally poked a hole in his ear canal (luckily it wasn't his ear drum).

The reason your left ear gets blocked so often is that you sleep on your RIGHT side. Our ears have evolved so the warmth of the skin inside melts the protective wax and it runs down and out.But when you sleep on one side at night. The ear is at 90 *, and the wax runs DOWN onto the eardrum. Then it dries, like a waxy manhole cover , over the cooler eardrum. The procedure above is a good way to protect from that. Peroxide in each ear for about 5 minutes each side, about once a week.Sit with it in one ear, with your head on its side, then switch.