Severely blocked ears - help needed!

[EllaNB]

Hi all,

My right ear is completely blocked with was and has been since last Sunday. I went to the doctors on Thursday and saw a nurse practitioner after using olive oil drops for 4 days and there not being any improvement. The nurse checked both ears and said they were both blocked with wax although I was not aware that the left one was as I could still here. I was advised to just continue with the drops and no antibiotics given for possible infection as I am 6 months pregnant.

Instead of my ear getting better it's got worse. My left ear is now also so blocked that I can't hear anything out of it. I can't follow a conversation or hear what is being said to me at all which has made me very tearful and stressed out. I plan on going to work tomorrow as I don't feel unwell but have no idea how I am supposed to do my job as it requires a lot of verbally communicating with clients.

I was wondering if anyone had any advice they could offer, or any suggestions regarding how I could unblock my ears, so I can at least hear a little bit tomorrow?

[OhWhatFuckeryIsThisNow]

I had this a few months ago, it was grim. I'm afraid it's not a quick fix, but what I was advised by the dr was to hold both nostrils closed and blow, do it regularly and eventually they will start to pop and crackle and the wax will work out.

[PossomInAPearTree]

Well I self syringe though if you have a possible infection it may not be the best idea. I bought a syringe from amazon, boots may sell them. It's basically just a standard plastic syringe with a nozzle on the end which makes the water come out in three jets rather than one nozzle (this spreads the pressure and makes it safer). Before I got this I just used a normal syringe from the chemist.

I fill a sink with warm water and blast the water in my ears. Because of the nozzle end it's meant to be safe and you can't damage your eardrum.

Other option is to google for a microsuction place near you. Will be private and cost about £80 but they may fit you in tomorrow.

[sausagepastapot]

Not from wax but I had a horrendously blocked ear from a cold earlier in the week, a really hot steam up really helped to clear it. May or may not help but may be worth a try.

Hopi ear candling??

[blue25]

The only thing that worked for me was to pay to have them suctioned. I found a clinic near me who charged £80 for both ears. Instant relief and so worth the money!

[LauraMoon]

I have a little plastic curette with an LED light. You can right into the ear and gently scrape out the wax. It was 79p from amazon. It's AMAZING. Maybe try that? You'd have to have a willing partner, obvs.

[EllaNB]

I have tried the holding my nose trick but nothing moves at all.

I have a regular syringe, so I could possibly try that and see if it helps at all.

If one on them would just pop then at least I would have some hearing :(

[EllaNB]

Just saw the other posts! I will look to see if there is a clinic near me as well and this scraping device (although I am not sure how willing DP will be to assist with that)

[AltheaThoon]

I also found someone on my area who did ear suctioning. The doctors around here won't touch blocked ears - they told me all they could do was put me on a hospital waiting list. I was so relieved when i found this guy. He put a camera in my ears and showed me how blocked they were; the difference after the suctioning was amazing. It cost me £60 for both ears and it was totally worth it.

[PurpleDaisies]

You can seriously damage your ears by using anything to try and scrape the wax out, Hopi ear candles or self syringing.

You could try bicarbonate based drops which work better for some people than olive oil ones.

I'd go for private microsuction.

[mathanxiety]

DD3 just had enormous gobs of wax removed from both ears at the doctor's.

They used this gizmo www.google.com/search?q=elephant+spray+bottle+earwax+remover&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=elephant+spray+bottle+ear+wax+remover&tbm=shop&spd=8581198009074880931 to spray her ears.
I am going to buy one because this is DD3's second time to get this done.

Basically, the nurse used a certain amount of hydrogen peroxide mixed with a bit more distilled water, warmed, and irrigated her ears at length until the wax flowed out.

The previous time, the nurse had DD lie on her side while she poured hydrogen peroxide into one ear, DD waited about 10 minutes, and then the nurse poured warm distilled water in for a good while, and the wax dislodged. Then she did the other side. I thought I could do that at home with my turkey baster, but the bulb part disintegrated just before DD started complaining about her ears again. Of course.

Olive oil sounds lovely and natural and all, but it is useless for very dry, compacted earwax, which is probably what you have.

Can you find someone to help irrigate your ears? A turkey baster might work.

It won't affect any underlying infection, and you can take ABs while pg anyway.

[PurpleDaisies]

math are you medically trained?

[PossomInAPearTree]

Can't believe this is £60. this

I'd use an old kitchen cleaner bottle with a bit of plastic tubing!

[flutterby77]

Don't scrape or self syringe! Hydrogen peroxide drops are more effective and quicker than oil and you get a satisfying fizz.

[Cel982]

Why didn't the nurse or doctor just syringe your ears? It's quick and immensely satisfying when it works (I'm a GP, it's one of my favourite tasks). If you don't have pain or other signs of infection then that would be the obvious course of action, I'm not sure why they didn't offer to do it...

[MovingOnUpMovingOnOut]

Does your surgery do syringing? Mine does after a week using the drops.

Also, the holding nose and blowing thing won't work for ears blocked by wax but may work if the blockage is fluid behind the ear drum and antibiotics won't do anything for wax either because they treat bacterial infections.

Keep using the drops and see if you can get them cleared by a HCP. Do not diy syringe or dig around in your ears unless you fancy experiencing the excruciating pain of a perforated ear drum.

[PossomInAPearTree]

You can't perforate your ear drum with the special syringe I mentioned. Least that's what they claim.

[mathanxiety]

PurpleDaisies, no, I am not. I was prescribed ABs while pg on three occasions and because I was worried, asked my obstetrician to reassure me that they were safe (different Rx each time but all ABs). Because DD has had the ear procedure done twice now, I have also had reassurance that the eardrum is not at risk from irrigation and any underlying infection will not be affected any more than it would by showering or washing your hair.

But the kits are available for anyone to purchase and the nurse who did DD3's ears the first time round recommended we try to get her ears cleared at home ourselves if they got blocked again. You don't push the tube right into the ear and the kits have a guard to prevent this anyway. You are not power washing the ear, just basically pouring a steady stream of water into them to flush out the softened wax.

Never put anything like a scraper into the ear.

[EllaNB]

Hi all thank you for all your replies. After another miserable evening and no luck with any home remedies, I must admit I was to scared to try anything to invasive, I went back to the gp surgery who luckily had an appointment free this morning and agreed to syringe my ears.

It took a total of 5 minutes so i am not sure why it wasn't offered before! I felt like a different person coming out of that surgery. It really is nice to have good hearing again.

Thank you so much for your help and advice.

[AltheaThoon]

Glad you got sorted. It's an amazing feeling