theholycow
11-30-2009, 01:53 AM
Every few years my ears get blocked with wax, no matter what I do to keep them clean. I get almost deaf. I try ear drops and a squirt bulb usually to no avail. I then go to the doctor and they squirt various chemicals until a plug falls out (eww, gross). I think once the doc dug it out with a little scoop (aka "curette"), as described in various articles about earwax problems.
I decided to get ahead of it this time. I felt like I was beginning to get blocked up but wasn't completely blocked yet. I started with my left ear, putting ear drops in a couple hours before my shower and using a foam earplug to keep the stuff in. Then I'd squirt the showerhead in my ear and use the rubber ear bulb squirter. I did that for three days in a row and only managed to block my ear worse each time.
In WalMart today I found this:
http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/01/89/15/31/00/0189153100004_500X500.jpg
At $6 for 10 pieces, it seemed a little expensive, but I couldn't resist. It's plastic, about the size and shape of a Q-tip, with a scoop at one end and a fin-ball (imagine the cooling fins on a small engine, miniaturized and shaped into a ball) at the other end.
I continued my previous left ear strategy. I got in the shower and went shortly to trying a Clinere after squirting a bit. My first few scoops produced nothing in either ear. Then I found a way to get little bits of wax in the scoop from my right ear. After two bits of wax, I pulled out a plug! Hallelujah!
Then I went to squirting the left ear some more. The Clinere can't grab anything; I think it's too soft or something. I stick the ear bulb in pretty deep, hoping I'd stick it past the plug and force the plug out with hydraulic pressure. After a few tries, that worked too!
The Clinere would have saved me days of effort and left-ear deafness if I had started with it.
I decided to get ahead of it this time. I felt like I was beginning to get blocked up but wasn't completely blocked yet. I started with my left ear, putting ear drops in a couple hours before my shower and using a foam earplug to keep the stuff in. Then I'd squirt the showerhead in my ear and use the rubber ear bulb squirter. I did that for three days in a row and only managed to block my ear worse each time.
In WalMart today I found this:
http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/01/89/15/31/00/0189153100004_500X500.jpg
At $6 for 10 pieces, it seemed a little expensive, but I couldn't resist. It's plastic, about the size and shape of a Q-tip, with a scoop at one end and a fin-ball (imagine the cooling fins on a small engine, miniaturized and shaped into a ball) at the other end.
I continued my previous left ear strategy. I got in the shower and went shortly to trying a Clinere after squirting a bit. My first few scoops produced nothing in either ear. Then I found a way to get little bits of wax in the scoop from my right ear. After two bits of wax, I pulled out a plug! Hallelujah!
Then I went to squirting the left ear some more. The Clinere can't grab anything; I think it's too soft or something. I stick the ear bulb in pretty deep, hoping I'd stick it past the plug and force the plug out with hydraulic pressure. After a few tries, that worked too!
The Clinere would have saved me days of effort and left-ear deafness if I had started with it.