To ask if impacted earwax is normally very painful?

[CarterBeatsTheDevil]

My DC(6) has a blocked eardrum. I have already taken her to the GP's practice nurse (who said impacted wax, just use olive oil and it will pop out) and to A&E later when she seemed to be in much greater pain than before. She was given amoxicillin at A&E but the doctor said the same thing as the nurse, that she had a wax blockage covering her eardrum quite a long way down (he thought it might be infected as well).

No fever, fine when painkillers are working but in bits when they wear off, which is happening a bit earlier than I would expect. They then take ages to kick in. She is taking paracetamol and ibuprofen alternately and we are also massaging with olive oil drops as directed.

I would take her to get the wax removed privately (NHS will not do it) but she has to have been using the drops for at least 2 weeks first and also not have an infection so she needs to finish this course of ABx first.

I really just want to have an idea of whether this level of pain is something that can happen when your ear is blocked, or whether I can/should be asking for anything else in terms of treatment or diagnosis?

I'm very happy to be told that sometimes impacted earwax just hurts and we just have to sit it out until we can get the wax removed, but it's not much fun for anyone right now so any experiences would be appreciated.

It can be quite painful yes. What you're doing sounds like the correct care. Given the level of pain described though it probably is more likely a middle ear infection. This typically gets much better over 3-5 days. Antibiotics rarely make any difference to these infections in terms of reducing pain or duration of infection unfortunately it's the paracetamol/ibuprofen that'll make the most difference to how they feel.

There's a good nhs page here which covers some extra things to watch out for:

https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/ears-nose-and-throat/middle-ear-infection-otitis-media/

You can buy hydrogen peroxide from Amazon.

You puts some on a cotton wool ball and hold the cotton wool ball over the ear. No need to press hard, it should just soak into the ear.

This will help break down the ear wax and it will come out naturally.

Do not insert anything into the ear.

Yes! A build up of ear wax can be very painful! You need to soften it with olive oil for about 5 days then use the Otex Express Combi Pack. Takes about 10 days altogether but this really will work 👍🏼

Take her to a qualified audiologist for microsuction if you can afford it.

Yes, impacted wax can be extremely painful. DD ended up at out of hours (having already seen a GP that morning). Not given antibiotics but co-codamol. Took quite a few days to resolve.

I wear hearing aids and get a lot of wax build up. I find it uncomfortable and like I’m listening to everything while my head is submerged under water. Also makes me dizzy and a bit disorientated if it’s very bad but it’s never been very painful so my guess is an infection as well as wax build up. I had lots of ear infections as a child and found antibiotics always relieved it within a day or so. Id keep going with the antibiotics and then when the pain has settled, soften the wax with the drops. Definitely the paracetamol/ibuprofen combo is the best. Ear pain is awful. I hope it eases off soon

@CarterBeatsTheDevil fyi, resources, ultimately, this olive oil spray from Boots may help.

https://www.boots.com/earol-olive-oil-spray-10ml-10148536

www.esht.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/0660.pdf

www.earcarecentre.com/patients/ears/wax/

My son had this when he was about 3.. we put olive oil drops into his ears (getting him to lie on side watching telly so it didn’t just run straight out) then used an ear syringe during his bath (search for earwax removal kit on Amazon). Within a few days of doing this on repeat it all flushed out!

Something warm to the affected ear might help with the pain - hot water bottle maybe? I definitely remember doing that when I had the same thing!

Thanks SO much. It does sound like we just need to wait it out. Poor little girl. She's pretty stoic and it's hard knowing that she's in so much pain. I really appreciate all answers.

If you have the stomach for it, watch this video from Durham Hearing Specialists youtube channel. A discussion of the cause of ear pain, while removing glittery impacted earwax from a young child. He seems to think it perfectly possible that there can be pain without any kind of infection. Good luck getting it sorted.

I think we'll carry on as we are, doing all the stuff, and investigate microsuction. I keep hoping that we'll just find the offending plug of stuff on the pillow but nope...

Heated wheat pack against the ear will help.

Personally I don't do the you have to use olive oil for two weeks before getting it syringed, but be aware that it can be painful if you don't.

I'd rather have a short burst of pain than not be able to hear for two weeks.

@Octavia64 I hear you, and I did think about it, but a friend of mine who gets impacted earwax as an adult (it is annoying for her but not painful) said her audiologist warned her that if the wax isn't soft and is stuck to the eardrum you can tear the eardrum pulling it away 😧

I’ve been prone to this for some years and it is indeed very painful at its worst. Fortunately, my surgery still does ear syringing which really is the only cure - a miracle! Olive oil is great if caught early but if it’s at the stage of pain, you need more help.

@FinnJuhl That video is astonishing. And really helpful in explaining why it might be hurting her so much.

I’ve literally just had my ears microsuctioned through my private insurance as nhs don’t do it and I couldn’t bear it anymore!
Over the last couple of months it had been getting gradually worse including pain, completely muffled sound, tinny sound, making me feel disorientated and run down. The doctor said to use sodium bicarbonate drops for a few days to soften it up and then have the microsuction. Alternatively I could have kept taking the drops and it should have cleared itself within a couple of weeks.
The microsuction itself was instantaneous and absolutely amazing/grotesque in equal measures. I couldn’t believe the amount of wax that came out.
The cost without insurance is around 50 - 70 quid depending on your area and I would recommend you keep doing the treatment but try and get microsuction if they do it on children. Worth every penny. The websites I found all said a couple of days to soften up, not two weeks like you’ve been told.

NHS does do syringing, I had it done at my GP earlier this year. Guess it depends on your practice.

The usual recommendation from audiologists is olive oil for 5-7 days before micro-suction. Not sodium bicarbonate as is still recommended by some GPs. The aim is to soften the earwax so it can be expelled/suctioned out. Sodium bicarbonate can make the wax mushy/more painful and harder to remove.

Microsuction is recommended over syringing as it is less likely to damage the eardrum.

I hope your LO gets sorted soon. There is nothing like ear pain - it's miserable.

In our area the NHS doesn't do any form of wax removal unless it impacts your hearing, which it doesn't appear to for her. But it's interesting how it varies across trusts.

Our local hearing hub do children on some days. (I only do adults, so refer on). I think they are a chain, so there may be one in your area.

I have an ear camera that people recommended on here. It's excellent but I wouldn't use it on my DCs. Earache is the worst.

My DD has similar. Has had impacted wax in one ear for over a year. Olive oil hasn’t touched it. I ended up buying an otoscope (v, cheap on amazon) so I could have a look. Its like a dark brown mass on her eardrum, no wonder its causing her pain.

I tried loads of local hearing centres for micro suction, but none of them would treat a child (she is 10). So I went back to the GP and they have referredy DD to ENT at the local hospital. Only 6 week wait for the appt too, which I was pleasantly surprised at!

I had to use olive oil drops on my son for 2 weeks and then took him privately to get it suctioned out.

The consultant said it normally takes a couple of mins to clear an ear. He spent 20mins working on my 5 year old. He joked it was like delivering a baby and that it had been years since he'd seen one so bad.

In the end a lump the side of a raisin was suctioned out.

Best of luck. Just to add I'd read that the olive oil might clear it but it didn't!

Yes, we took DS to GP with pain and it was earwax. We did olive oil and it did nothing but the Otex worked. We did also get an ear camera which is fun. And he’s older so we used the tool to remove some in the other ear. I don’t know about potential for tearing the ear drum, maybe wouldn’t do that again. Eek.