olive oil for ear wax

[berniecuddles]

Went to have ears syringed at docs on friday due to ear wax in both ears and was told to use olive oil to help to free up the wax does this work?
i have been using cerumol ear drops from chemist!
just seems strange to use olive oil.

[craft1948]

Use warm olive oil, put in ear, and slosh around..............

[tenrec]

Just a couple of drops regularly, say once a week.

[cathfromsaron]

ditto and it does work well x

[marg14a]

warm olive oil definitely works, done it, do every day - get a dropper from the chemist and put 3 drops in each ear

[JonnyBoy12]

The best thing to use is Otex Ear drops. They are more expensive than the other things but they really do get the job done.

[berniecuddles]

ok thx all, so i will just get some ordinary olive oil then

[tenrec]

Our Doctor was not keen on Otex, don't know why though.

[Sqad]

Both are as efficient.......makes little difference.

I can't understand why an ear syringing routinely needs softening as in 80% of the wax comes out on syringing.Why not syringe it first and than if it doesn't come out, soften it with something.......seems a waste of time to me.

[SeaJayPea]

When I was a kid, the only place Olive Oil was sold was in the chemist's. You never saw it, or any other oil for that matter, in a grocer's shop. And removing ear wax was what it was sold for.

Wasn't really that long ago, either.

[piggynose]

take it from me ,and i get lots of earwax, sodium bicarbonate eardrops are the best!!! olive oil is messy, greasy waste of time!!

[EvianBaby]

The olive oil doesn't need to be heated up. It makes no difference if it's warm or just room temperature and if you make it too hot you may do yourself some damage.

[maggiebee]

I have always used warm almond oil.

[factor-fiction]

Olive oil was always used in our family when I was being brought up. I did buy cerumol drops last time as I was on holiday. The drops wee less messy but as they go off after a short while it can be expensive to keep replacing the drops.
Does syringing still happen? I used to love having it done about once every 5 years by teh practice nurse but when I last asked at the surgery I was told it's no longer considered a suitable treatment

[anneasquith]

no oils work for me. ear drops containing hydrogen peroxide work quite well.

[Sqad]

\\\\ I was told it's no longer considered a suitable treatment\\\

I just wonder what IS a suitable treatment for ear wax?

[factor-fiction]

Hi sqad- ifrom your comment I'm wondering is there a medical view that wax should just be left to stay there or to come out of its own accord?
I'm talking about a heavy wax build up that is painful and impairs hearing

[chelle7272]

Our GP's also say it is not a suitable treatment, thy will do it if you really insist but you have to soften it first or they won't do it.
I also wonder this is.
Has anyone had an injury from syringing?

[factor-fiction]

... if you are saying Syringing is the right treatment then I'm sure you're right but I was given the impression it was considered risky (damage to the inner ear?)

[Sqad]

factor......if wax in the ears is causing deafness, then it needs to be removed and it is that method of removal that I query.

The old fashioned ear syringe was perfectly adequate for the job, but has now been replaced by a nurse "farting about" with a piece of equipment that looks like an electric toothbrush that couldn't remove a speck of dirt from a gnat's testicle.

[yogi-bear]

Olive oil always works for me whether hot or cold.......it saves me going off to the docs for syringing......with the amount of swimming I do daily and shampooing the old bonce, diving when abroad, I do get quite a bit building up......last time i went to the nurse at my surgery after being told by my GP to use 5 days of olive oil drops to help soften the wax, she told me that she could see the eardrum and i did'nt need to have it done....just advised me to use 1 or 2 drops every now and then to help them not get clogged up.

They dont like syringing if they can help it as the pressure of this process COULD perforate the eardrum, so will only do so, in my surgery at least, if putting oil in does'nt help soften the wax.

By having the syringing done without loosening the wax first can seriously damage your ears my GP's have said.

Otex is pretty good too btw....prevents the need for syringing.