Blocked ear

[Jbird]

My partner is suffering from a blocked ear at the moment. We have been applying ear drops for a few days now and he's talking about suringing it ourselves (he's not & refuses to register with the doctor). Is this possible and how would one go about it?

[Panic Button]

Syringing only removes wax from the outer ear.

If he has muffled hearing following a cold, it is almost certainly mucus behind the ear drum, and syringing will not touch this.

[sqad617]

The ear drops he has been using are presumably to soften the wax and hence theoretically he could syringe them himself, but would not advise this. A doctor or indeed a practice nurse could do this more effectively. However, if he wants to do this himself, than getting a large syringe (I've no idea from where) and using water at body temp.to syringe the ear MIGHT do the trick. If at the end of this proceedure he still cannot hear properly then there is still some wax in the ear or his deafness is nothing to do with wax. In either case he would need to see a Dr. so why not see one at the outset?

[Postdog]

I had a very similar thing a few weks ago. I tried otex for a week, and my ears were still fuzzy (actually worried I was going deaf!).

Anyway, I asked a chemist who suggested I try a decongestant remedy, or, as I was on blood pressure tablets. simply using a bowl of hot water, towel over head, and inhaling the vapour.

I tried that a few times, I am OK now.

[beejaybee]

It`s very dangerous to mess around with ears. He could push the wax in further. An uncle of mine actualy went deaf after trying to clean out his ears.

[shanx]

i use clear ,ear cleansing spray , its salt water you spay in your ears , i get it from tescos , i ask my doctors advise and he said its fine .

[MiniN]

a great thing to try is ear candles. i had this done when i was in canada but i know you can get them here, they might be called 'hopi' candles.

the heat draws out the wax and if you run your fingers along your cheekbone towards your ear whilst you have the candle in it will draw out mucus and wax. you can also run you fingers firmly from the back of your neck towards the bottom of your ear and it will help clear out there too.

i tried them because my sister in law said i would feel really clear afterwards (i wasn't blocked at all) and i did feel great.

they are easy to use but you need someone to do it to you.

[alijangra]

The practice nurse shouldnt even think about syringing until drops have been administered for at least 3 weeks. Olive oil 3 times daily is most effective. Dont go trying to syringe yourself, you could perforate your ear drum. Syringing is being done less and less due to the possibility of complications. Also, water going into the ear canal at pressure can stimulate the vagal nerve and cause a collapse. Is there a particular reason he wont register with a GP?

[sqad617]

I take the point of alijangra, but not all wax can be liquified by the application of olive oil, but despite that, I agree that it should be used. Wax can sometimes be very resistant to softening and at times syringing is unsuccesful. A normal eardrum can never be perforated by judicious syringing and I am not sure what evidence there is that syringing is done less and less. The vagus nerve would have to have a injudicious insult before causing a collapse which at worst would be a feeling of fainting.
Dont muck about, just register with a GP as alijangra suggested and get it sorted.

[alijangra]

I am a practice nurse and have witnessed a collapse first hand. Also in the NHS trust in which I work, ENT consultants and audiologists have written to practices with new guidelines to actively discourage syringing. It is actually thought to exacerbate the situation as regular syringing actually causes increased wax production. And how do you know if someone has no damage to their eardrum? There have been many cases of perforation!

[alijangra]

Sorry I cannot produce the evidence, but i am only going by the protocols and guidelines of my workplace and the NHS trust in which I work, and the training course I have done on the Propulse syringing equipment.

[sqad617]

What is the alternative to ear syringing? Refferal to an ENT unit for treatment? Ent Op's waiting lists are too long now without these needles referalls. The term "collapse" that you have mentioned could be anything and in itself is meeningless.What evidence is there that reccurent syringing increases the secretion of wax, it could be that some people produce more wax than others and need more ear syinging and that doesn't mean that syringing encourages wax. How do you know an ear drum is normal? by syringing it and looking. If it had already been damaged, then the syringing couldn't have damaged it. How do you know that the "many cases" of oerforation were due to ear syringing....you don't.
With the protocols that you describe, I would like to know the OP waiting list of your local Hospital Trust and if the ENT surgeons agree with them.

[Jbird]

I am jbirds partner.
thankyou all verymuch for all your answers and they have been some eye openers and i appreciate all of them. just let you know that the problem has now cleared up and yes i did do a d i y syringe with a fairy liquid bottle a small flexible tube with warm seline solution and it shifted a fair amont of wax after useing a course of earex treatement. The real question, when i used to go swimming i had no problems at all but for the last couple of years ear blockage is allways the end result, why?.
incedently i am 47 if that has any bearing. also over the last couple of days i have experienced some miner seepage which strangley enough smells of earex although as stated my ear has been clear for several days. On a final note the reason i am not registered with my local G.P. is that when i had to sign the small form i noticed the rear of it carries a doner section and small continuation post the statement to sign, after the continuation and the doner bit the docter then signed. I am no lawyer but i can see where this is leading and as a legal document a lawyer wouldn`t advise you sign
would he?

[sqad617]

10 out of 10 for ingenuity, have you thought of patented your ear syringing contraption ? If someone has a small amount of wax in the ears, not causing any problems, then water in the ear from swimming may get trapped or cause the wax to swell and then present as deafness.
As for your "legal" problem,I cannot help for as far as I'm concerned, when I die, they can salvage whatever they want, I certanly won't need it. But that is only a personal philosophy.