To tell you all that I just unblocked my own ear and it feels AMAZING?

[Fossiliferous]

It's been blocked on and off since I had covid in 2021 😬

It gets worse every time I get a cold or my hayfever is bad, so I assumed it was a middle ear thing. Had a phone appointment with my GP about it when it first started and was advised to do steam inhalation and use otrivine nasal spray, so that's what I've been doing when it blocks and eventually it clears. My ears never seemed very waxy and due to it being linked to congestion I never thought it might be wax.

But about 3 weeks ago it blocked and just wouldn't unblock. I've been almost completely unable to hear from that ear since and it's been misery, so disorientating.

Anyway I thought in desperation last week to try wax removal just in case and got some bicarbonate of soda spray, when I tried it my ear literally fizzed and popped and seemed slightly clearer so I've been doing that twice daily for 5 days. This morning I thought I'd give it a rinse with a bulb thingy and some very slightly salty water and OMG the gak that came out 🤢 I thought it would never end, and then one really big stringy bit (like a ribbon of dead skin) came out and all of a sudden I could hear again and my head stopped feeling faintly swimmy. It took 3 x 500ml jugs of warm water (teaspoon of salt added to each) though, I was rinsing it for about 15 minutes til the water came out clear.

Everything is so loud! Its obviously been far worse than I realised for ages

Once I get used to everything being so loud again I'm going to do the other ear, which I thought was unaffected but now this ear is properly clear I can tell that the other one is a bit blocked too.

Well that’s a good life then if you would do it all over again. Woofa is a great name for a bunny who thinks it’s a dog. I’m currently sitting here with my cat who is nearly 17.
The oldest animal I’ve had. But she is severly missing our dog who died of old age a couple of months ago. Won’t stop looking. It’s heartbreaking and I am not sure I want any more pets than all the wild ones again.

@GettingAwayFromYou

Mainly doing the following:

Stopped drinking coffee for about two months and drank nettle tea instead.

Avoided high histamine foods for couple of months too. I noticed avocado and spinach triggered me badly, I still avoid these apart from very odd occasion and small quantities.

Started to take Acerola Cherry supplement (it’s basically vitamin C but in a whole food variety. Regular vit C is not suitable as it may contain mould). And also quercetin supplement which was really helpful.

I had been taking a daily antihistamine for about five years. I now need one at about every 3-4 weeks.

I'm sorry to hear about your dog, even though we've had literally dozens of animals die it never gets any easier. Did you let your cat see the dog when dead as animals accept death better than we do and if they know then they can get on with things, but if their mate suddenly isn't around they don't understand and keep looking for them. I know its too late now if you didn't but a plan for the future.

The oldest one we could be certain of was 20 when she died, but as most of the animals we had were adults when we got them we could only guesstimate their ages. With the cats it was mainly based on their teeth and general body condition, but as ferals age faster than domestics it was not very accurate. If they have their canines they are more than 6 months, if still a bit skittish then under 2 but after that it gets a bit sketchy.

@VeryHappyBunny We had a tiny, cat-chasing Netherland dwarf, too! He used to run rings round next door’s Persian.
Good luck with the move!

I wish there was a video of this, even reading it was satisfying

It must be a thing with them, they don't know they're tiny because in their heads they are BIG. Nothing frightened Woofa. We got him because the woman he belonged to was pregnant and she couldn't manage him. When I saw him I thought why? but it quickly became apparent, he was fearless. He used to tear up and down the stairs and even chased Roly, his best-friend-cat, along the back of the sofa! They were both mostly white with a few black splodges and were really fond of each other. I like slightly quirky animal friendships.

Actually, now I think about it, he was frightened of one thing - the guinea pigs. He used to share a bedroom with them. He had a lovely big hutch in there where he went at night, during the day he was free range unless we went out then a very large run in the lounge. One night when I was taking him to bed he started crying and whimpering, I sat down with him and he stopped but as soon as I got up he started again. I decided to let him stay in the run instead and he was right as rain but never went back in the GPs room. Just as well really because shortly after we got two rescued white chipmunks and their cage went where his hutch had been,

Total madness but I wouldn't have changed anything except to have more time.

I was recommended years ago to get mine done and never did- my friend said the same as you recently. Sounds like heaven! Well done op!!

@oakleaffy If that's your own writing, not lifted off the net, you should write for sure!
Thank you oaky, your compliment made me smile! And yep, it's my own words, written on the spot as it were. I really enjoy reading and writing, which might be a result of taking a little longer than most people to get the hang of it.

@WorriedRelative But what came out? Was there a huge lump of wax skewered on the pin? You can't give us only half the story!
You're absolutely right - I forgot "the money shot"🤑🙊
Picture a sultana. Not one of those piddly little Tesco Value ones that might just as well be a raisin for all the good it does, you know the time you went in the fancy delicatessen shop, picked up the special looking ones, then had to walk home because you were too embarrassed to say no when the lady said the were twenty quid so you had no money left for the bus? (we've all done that, right? not just me?) One of those sultanas. Mostly jet black, but also had every colour from snow white, pale yellow, hi-vis jacket yellow, satsuma, through to Escort XR3i door rust burnt orange. Came out in one piece too!

@amusedbush Thank you <3

For everyone asking for photos check out this guy on Tik Tok - earwaxaudiologyassocuk

I used to spend far too long watching the videos it's been a while since I've watched any so that's my afternoon sorted.

Brilliant! So well written. I hope you write for a living.

Update. Had them microsuctioned this morning.. apparently the wax looked "very old" and probably been blocked for a few years (yeah no shit Sherlock). My voice sounds very odd..
I don't have photos as I was too shy to ask but it was incredibly satisfying.

Nowhere near as satisfying as tackling it myself of course.

This is indeed a lovely thread, ear and animals, what's not to like?

I shall fun sponge for a minute and beg anyone not to put anything in their ears (especially grenade pins ) as like PP said, damage to the ear drum is very risky and serious consequences!

It's been very interesting reading people's experiences of cleared ears. As an apology for my fun sponging my DC are now adults and obviously hearing aids/implants have developed enormously since they were born.

Every time they have had new equipment updates/aids they hear new sounds. It's been amazing (and a little bit heart breaking sometimes) to realise we just didn't know what they had never heard and didn't know about. One of my DCs only realised, as an adult with a new aid, that cats make a sound when they purr. She always thought they just "vibrated". When she heard the purring noise she thought something was wrong with the cat and woke me up in a panic.

I've heard of people who save their DCs baby teeth, now I'm wishing I'd saved the years of ear wax from them, I'd auction it and clearly make a fortune

I also learnt new things over the years (and wish Alexa tech etc was available when they were little!)

I didn't realise people take for granted they could just shout "dinner is on the table" and their DC would come down from upstairs! They didn't have to go up into their bedroom and tell them!

Thank you. We didn’t have the opportunity to show our dog to the cat, but I know now that it must be very important as they were such good friends and did everything together. She sits where her bowl and her bes was and just screams.

I was hoping for one!

LOL when I call that dinner is ready, it seems to be a cue for my DH to need to get on the roof, or to vanish to the back of the garden on an urgent mission while the meal goes cold. 🙄

https://www.boots.com/ear-popper-ear-relief-device-10151691?cm_mmc=bmm-buk-google-ppc--PLAs_HeroCompare---_-PMax:+UK_Smart_Shopping_Healthcare_Other&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADrIajVhK8bqzetFIsNwhSu2i4C80&gclid=CjwKCAjwyo60BhBiEiwAHmVLJRQXPgWyNVAfvgu-yZC1dSp6PmX6CKDUkuDTRJ0kXjA7xIgVd1Fx_BoC7I0QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

not sure why the link is so long but this is a good gadget if you have long term ear issues (as I do) it replicates the way your ear pops when you’re on an aeroplane.

If you still have the bed the cat might like it. If she is crying anyway it probably won't make things worse, its worth a try.

She found the dogs pillow in the garage, and sniffed it so I took it inside again. Our dog died in her bed a green field behind the vets. Safe and free. So we don’t have the bed. Thanks for your suggestions, you must truly love animals.

May try this. I suffer from Otitis and with perimenopause, constantly itching my ears until they literally bleed. The itching is insane. I get a 5ml bottle of Optomize on prescription because my ear canals swell and become infected. This is monthly unfortunately and made worse because of the incessant itching which I’ve been told to basically put up with. My ears feel blocked constantly and I’m always getting infections. Refuse to keep paying £9.75 for 5ml of bugger all!

More than you could ever know. In the 18 months I've been here the very best day was at Easter when one of the carers brought her bunny in. He sat on my bed as I stroked his head and he went to sleep. She said he never does that, but they do with me. The only things I will deliberately kill are fleas and ticks and blowflies who leave eggs on other animals causing harm and potentially death. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to getting a couple of dogs when I move.

You’ll have to update us about the dogs.

I once got a hamster, a couple of days later it gave birth to 11 tiny hamsters. Then later my younger sister forgot to close their door properly and they all escaped. They ruined half our house, and my mum and I laugh about it now but she didn’t back then..

Just don't heat the oil in the microwave 😬

i had my ears suctioned a couple of weeks ago & 1 ear is so badly blocked they can’t get it out.

i’m now on a week of oil drops before a 3rd go! Have gone from a bit of hearing to none in that ear.