Is it normal for impacted earwax to cause a lot of pain? DD(6)

[CarterBeatsTheDevil]

Just trying to work out if I should be asking more/different questions or waiting this out.

(I put this in AIBU as well but unsurprisingly a six year old's impacted earwax is not the most exciting thread on that forum tonight.)

My daughter (6) has a blocked ear and it has been painful for her for just over a week. So far, 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.

PS I should add that the ABx course finishes tomorrow and I would say the pain is slightly improved but really not the way you would expect if it was a straightforward infection requiring antibiotics.

I used to get terrible boils in my ear as a kid-the pain was excruciating. Could it ge that?

Yes impacted wax can put a lot of pressure on the ear canal walls so it can be surprisingly painful! Not true that you have to be treating it for 2 weeks to have it removed privately, I work in the private hearing sector and we would just require it to be softened, usually 5 days max would do it.

Hopefully your DD gets some relief soon.

Also if it is completely blocked then it's usually impossible to tell if the ear is also infected, that would usually only become obvious once the wax is removed. With impacted wax you wouldn't be able to see the ear drum at all.

My son, who is a bit older than your daughter, gets this. We bought a gadget from Amazon which uses water to flush it out (as recommended by the GP) and it's been fab - cost about £40 but cheaper than taking him to get his ears syringed every few months. The relief is pretty much instantaneous

@veeolay thanks, I was wondering how they would know whether she was infected or not before removal!

Thanks everyone for the replies. I really appreciate it. It helps to know that this can be normal for earwax!

(I underestimated AIBU as I got some helpful stuff there too including the most astonishing earwax removal video)

@PercyMcPigface would you mind sharing the link for it please?

Yes sure, it was this one (don't think that's an affiliate link)

Ear Wax Removal Kit, Temodu Rechargeable Electric Earwax Remove Removal Ear Irrigation System, and Effective Clean Ear, Features D... amzn.eu/d/exo4wv4