Can you clear an ear blocked by wax by just using olive oil drops?

[BlockedEars]

I had to get my ear wax removed by suction at Specsavers 2 years ago and again 6 weeks ago, but it's now blocked again.
I have tinnitus in that ear and being blocked exacerbates the tinnitus.
The last time I went to Specsavers the lady said to put olive oil drops/spray in my ear once a week as a preventive measure but it hasn't worked.
She did say that I have very narrow and steep ear canals.
It costs £55 a time to get them suctioned.
Do I just cough up or is it worth trying olive oil drops for a week?

My doctor recommended holding my head up at an angle while in the shower and letting the warm water flood the ear canal for a minute or so, then gently swabbing out the loose wax with a cotton bud. This has always worked for me, but it sounds like you have a more challenging problem with it.

My doctor recommended olive oil for my ears (tinnitus, dermatitis).
Haven't quite dared try it yet tho!

It worked for my ds. He had terribly blocked ears as a child and we were told to use olive oil to soften it with a view to syringing 😳
The night before his review appt I noticed something on his ear and pulled it - it was a piece of wax about 3 cm long that came out of his ear ! The next morning the other side had deposited 4 sizeable chunks of ear wax on his pillowcase and the gp confirmed his ears were clear !

Definitely worth doing the olive oil.
It depends how blocked it is as to whether that will work or not

Never, ever use cotton buds in the ear canal, it just pushes wax further in and it gets impacted. (There is a warning on cotton bud packets!).
I once removed the tip of an cotton bud from someone that had been there 11 years; that was the last time they'd used cotton buds so they knew how old it was.)
OP, using olive oil for a week before wax removal will make the process easier, much less liklihood of scraping the delicate ear canal by pulling out hard lumps which can cause bleeding and resultant inflammation.
Sometimes, if soft enough, it will come out by itself, but often there is too much and needs suctioning out.
All the best.

Definately try it, i had a serious ear infection a few years ago. The drs wouldnt syringe them so i laid on my side, put warm olive oil in my ear and rubbed just behind my ear to get the oil in. I did this for a few nights in a row and a huge clump of wax came out, the infection cleared up as the drops could actually get into my ear.

I had my ear syringed, couldn't believe the ball of hard and black wax that came out !!
The nurse said olive oil works and to use it once a week to keep wax soft (not that I have) if it's really bad like mine they will need unblocking because no amount of olive oil was getting that bad boy out !!

My mum got an oil from boots, she went from it being able to hear well enough to talk on the phone to hearing a whisper now. It took about 6 weeks of daily drops but it worked

Unscientific sample of two - we’ve tried olive oil for two weeks on both my DH and DS and it did naff all. We then got Otex and a camera thing and had much better success. Ear 1 cleared with just the Otex, Ear 2 we scraped the wax out after a couple of days.

This is the Otex.
https://amzn.to/45pwKZv

I can find the camera thing if you’re interested.

I use Otex ear drops and they're wonder stuff! My ears get so blocked and it always seems to work for me. Everyone is different of course but maybe worth a try if you haven't previously.

Otex to clear out but I did two weeks of olive oil every night first.
My problem was caused by eczema in my ear so caused an over production of wax. Probably because it was so itchy.
If I feel it is starting up again I start using olive oil for a couple of days.
I haven’t had to get it syringed out since.

It works very well, but requires persistence- do it every night. The relief when it eventually starts to clear is immense!!

Olive oil does nothing for my wax. It seems to make it swell up and makes the problem worse. I think it's Otex or Earex I use. It has hydrogen peroxide in and fizzes when it hits the wax and breaks it up. I then dollop olive oil in before seeing the practice nurse to have them washed out.

I would try get an appointment with a GP to rule out infection. Sometimes they prescribe Optomize spray which can help.

But infection feels very different from a blocked ear.

i used otex and it made my hearing worse for that week till i could go get them syringed.