i read about all of the rinses and what not that people use, but more often than not when i'm having issues my ears are full on jammed up with wax and god knows what other filth. this past week i had to come in with an ear that would no longer clear. had issues hearing clearly out of it since.
fast forward to yesterday.... take the 6 month old in to the doc for, of all things, a potential blown ear drum. she scoops out all kinds of crap and determines the drum to be fine, but gives us ear drops anyway. during this i tell the doc that my poor daughter is destined for crap ears since my dad and i both have them.... we discuss it and she says, 'oh, all you have to do is just get a waterpik from target and use HOT water and hydro peroxide 50/50. it'll clean you out.'
lo and behold i stop by rite aid on the way home and pick up a waterpik and my ears are clear in under 45 minutes. the clogged one had black filth in there that stunk like something was rotting. i can't believe i wasn't getting an infection. feel like a million bucks now.
so for any of you that are so jammed up with wax and filth, hit the waterpik and keep it hot and around intesnity 2-4. you'll be all set!
our pediatrician said that you'd turn down the intensity before you blew your drum and to let er rip, but i kept it a calm 2-4......
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the following is today's response to mixed responses i got on spearboard:
this was mainly for the people that have ears that do NOT clear themselves of the wax normally. every time i go to the doc i have to endure 30-45 minutes of the poor girl using the big syringe before the doc can see my ear drums. i'm 33. this has been going on off and on since i was a kid. 10 years ago when i started surfing a lot, it became a constant battle. diving a lot is as bad or worse than surfing it seems. it is not 'normal'. my ears suck. this post was for others whose ears suck and always have to endure the syringe at the doc.
as for what waterpik, the one i bought was $50. it's the fancy one. it was all they had. after years and years of enduring this to a certain degree, i would've paid $500 if i could find something that would allow me to take care of it myself. i think you could pick one up for half of the $50 i paid, but i'd be sure to go with one that plugs in instead of a battery version.
as to hot water making you dizzy, yes, it sure does.
i'm not offering medical advice here, just passing along a tip that a good pediatrician gave me that has literally changed my life. i had used syringes, hot water from the shower, debrox, even resorted to qtips a few times. none ever worked. my ears are that bad. the waterpik worked.
the 'black stuff' was likely just a wax/dead skin/sand/other ocean organic matter mix that had festered in there without naturally clearing for months.... i've seen the brown cigarette butt looking stuff blow out of my ears at the doc a dozen times. always revolting, but nothing compared to this.
i woke up without having an ear jammed full of wax and filth today and it sounds AWESOME.
