Look what I got out of dd's ear..

[Spornering]

Just as I was about to leave from work, my daughter drew attention to her ear, which has been achey for a couple of days. This is what I saw.. (pic1)
and what I got out.. (pic 2)
I was obviously super-cautious as it looks like an infection, and only took out what was in the immediate opening of the ear.
Unfortunately I had to leave for work, but plan to flush her ear when safe

Was there any other fluid? Going by the first pic which looks smearier than it should for just wax, there could have been an infection behind her eardrum which has perforated. I used to get it a lot as a child. To be on the safe side I wouldn't flush the ear until you've checked with your GP.
That is some epic ear wax though!!

Epic! Thank you. Hope her ear is ok though

It looks like discharge is coming out of her ear. Given that she’s been in pain for a couple of days, it’s possible her eardrum has perforated. Please get her checked out by the GP. She could need antibiotics.

Had similar when DS was little.

Would definitely get your DD checked by the GP.

As per pp ear drum has perforated and he needed antibiotics.

There's fluid coming out too - along with smeary and harder wax - does fluid always indicate a perforated ear?
She says its not hurting anymore, just itching..
I won't flush it!
This seems to wash out some old compressed wax too, as in pic 1. When we went to an emergency GP recently for an unrelated issue he commented that she has "a lot of old wax in her ears", and I have been thinking about how to get it out..

DS had fluid also.

I'd definitely get it checked.

Will try and get an apt before she is due to fly on Sat, but on a good note she's not in pain and doesn't have a temperature.
She was actually due to fly yesterday, but flight was cancelled, due to the air control system malarkey. That seems really lucky now, as it would have been excruciatingly painful!

The trouble is with ‘old wax’ and waxy DC ears is that any old water (bath, swimming etc) finds its way behind the wax and then sits there and stagnates nicely causing an infection.

DS(6) has had this, a lot. GP won’t rinse or syringe, so stuck in a cycle. Looks much like yours in that we might get a leaky waxy discharge and a lump of wax.

I’ve now found an audiologist who will suction his ears privately to (hopefully) break the cycle. We got next week.

If I saw that leaky wax in the first pic I’d be looking for antibiotics especially if you are due to flu soon (ouch).

The perforation is usually what gives relief from the pain, so that's not surprising. I ended up with severe hearing loss ( rectified with grommets) as a result. Definitely seek antibiotics.

So old wax might be what caused this, by the sounds of it. I've bought olive oil ear drops to get out old wax, but won't use it now of course

From what I recall of the GP telling me at the time then yes.

Excess wax can trap an infection behind it. The actual perforation of the ear drum and the "escape" of the fluid can bring "relief" but the infection can still be there.

The relief is the pressure being reduced.

I remember DS having a poorly ear and being grouchy and actually improving when this happened. The problem however is still there and can just reoccur.

However I'm not a medical authority by any means and I'm recalling something from many years ago.

The pictures though were almost identical to DS.

So again I'd urge a trip to your GP.

After the AB's he had no further problems unlike a pp so it's not necessarily something that's problematic in the long term.

The wonders of the ear..
she's now got her antibiotics, which hopefully will make the flight bearable

Did the doc know that she's due to fly, and they said it's ok?

I had an ear infection a few years ago where I wasn't allowed to fly for a few days, until signed off by the doc

Yes he was told and didn't advise against it. She will have had 3 days worth of ab before she's due to fly on Sat eve. I hope that will be ok

Fingers crossed - it might depend on the flight.
I think shorter flights that don't go as high, so not as pressurised, might be ok - I was coming back from Australia so had to go back to the doc every day to be checked until they said I was ok to fly.