this post was submitted on 27 Nov 2023
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Asklemmy

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[โ€“] [email protected] 20 points 11 months ago (3 children)

I've been cleaning my ears with an "ear syringe" for years. Just squirt some warm water from the faucet in there and you can hear again. Works great and is reusable. They are like 10 bucks at your local drug store.

[โ€“] [email protected] 15 points 11 months ago (3 children)

I don't like having water stuck in my ear.

[โ€“] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago

Water only gets stuck in your ear if you have wax built up in your ear canal. Regular washing of your ear with warm water (and nothing else!) keeps the wax build-up under control and water will just pour out of your ear canal as soon as you level your head.

[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

Pro tip if this happens, add more water.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Sometimes I need a couple of more passes to unclog my ear. If I do it once and there is water stuck in my ears, it means I need to do it again. If I do it a few more times so my ear is unclogged, water will no longer be stuck in my ears.

If your ears are clogged so severely that water alone won't help, use something like Debrox or hydrogen peroxide first to loosen your wax plug. Leave it in there for a few minutes to let the wax soften. Then follow it up with mechanical disruption from water in the ear syringe.

If your ears are too clogged so that even that doesn't work, your clog is probably so severe that you need to see an ear, nose, and throat doctor.

[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago

I've been doing this for a long time now too. So much better than anything else I've tried and you'd have to do something incredibly fucky to injure yourself.

[โ€“] thelsim 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I actually got advised by my doctor to use vegetable oil for my daughter's clogged ear. A drop of oil and some massaging for 20 seconds three times a day did the the trick. Took a few days, but the clog was eventually dissolved.

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago

I use glycerin myself, but I'll have to try vegetable oil next time.

The other thing that greatly helps speed things along is letting the oil / glycerin sit for 5-10min, then following up with an ear syringe full of warm water. Instead of spraying directly ahead, they're designed to safely spray to the sides, and the agitating motion of the water works well to clear the clog very quickly.