How do I get rid of this blocked ear?

[nancy10]

Last night I laid in the bath with my head under and now have one very blocked left ear. It doesn't hurt but is very annoying. Have dr's appt this afternoon. I never have ear problems, I've tried tipping my ear to one side but nothing has come out. I haven't got a cold either and feel perfectly ok. Was wondering if anyone else suffers from this and can suggest anything.

[SerenaJoy]

I've had this - the last time I went to the hairdresser she was a bit, er, enthusiastic while she was washing my hair, and I ended up with a blocked ear. It was just a build up of wax (ew).

The doctor told me to use ear drops for a couple of weeks to soften the wax, then make an appointment with the nurse to get the ear syringed. They had to check to make sure my ear drum wasn't inflamed or anything first though, so definitely worth a trip to the doc.

[Applemuncher]

Yup - as SerenaJoy says, the water gets trapped behind wax and it's better to try and get rid of it natrually rather than syringing.

Try buying Olive Oil and a dropper from the chemist, heat the oil in the dropper container using normal hot tap water (just stand the container in the sink) for 5 mins then put the drops in the appropriate ear and have a lie down to keep it there for 5-10 mins.

Even if you were going to get your ears syringed, you would have to do this first.

It's horrible I know, I get this once a year at least but it's best to avoid syringing if you can.