Joe said:
so my left ear is "clogged" with ear wax and i can feel some pressure in my ear. im pretty sure its ear wax. i tried doing some home remedies like pouring some peroxide and water in my ear, and even using the big tear-drop shaped tube filled with hot water but i ended up squirting water in my ear and that made it a lot worse?
Ok. Please listen to me. I had two (yes, two) ear infections in early '05.
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DO NOT KEEP USING HYDROGEN PEROXIDE. Seriously. I learned this the hard way. It will just make things more irritated. Use no more than one capful, if it works, great. If there's no improvement after a couple days (or even if there is) DON'T KEEP USING IT. You already have used it, so there's nothing else you can do. If you go to the doctor or a specialist, they may squirt peroxide in your ears, but at extremely high pressure -- so hard that it'll all drain right back into a cup (plus, you're sitting up). But, that's all the more reason to not use it on your own -- it is not a good idea to use peroxide all of the time, as it will just dry and irritate the hell out of your ears... especially as the summer ends and the temperature gets cooler. Unless the doctor wants to use it, just stay away from hydrogen peroxide for the ear at all other times, honestly.
Ear wax removal drops are a joke, if you ask me. All debrox ever did for me was make the fluid thicker and all the more inclined to stay stuck in my ears. I'd stay away. Same for the crap they sell that treats swimmer's ear. It feels like squirting rubbing alcohol into your ears.
Go see an ear, throat, and nose specialist. They'll suck the fluid out of your ears after flushing it out with a water and vinegar mixture or peroxide. They may also give you some antibacterial (e.g. Zithromax) and decongestant (e.g. Amitex) pills, and ear drops that act as a steroid. This will all depend on how bad your ear(s) are.
Buy cotton balls and securely put them in both of your ears while you take a shower. You will need to do this for a LONG TIME, even if you go to a doctor. For example, I used cotton balls in the ear while showering from late '04/early '05 all the way to May/June this year. Just get used to it and have more than enough available. Only now can I finally expose my ears to water normally without having to worry about them getting super irritated. Thank god I'm not a big fan of swimming.
Also, cardio helps, believe it or not. Get yourself sweating like crazy by doing something such as jogging a lot. In the summer especially, this really helps accelerate draining any extra fluid you may have in your ears.
If your feel like itching your ears... don't. And whatever you do, don't put pressure on the lobe and kind of move it around to try and get rid of some of the irritation -- you'll just make things worse. Keep your fingers off and out of your ears. It's hard, but believe me, worth it. Buy a heating pad if you have to. Just make sure it's one you can keep clean.
If you use q-tips, never put them in the ear canal. I'd advise not using them period while your ear is bothering you, as you'll feel more naturally inclined to stick the q-tip further into your ear and try to dig out whatever is in there. That's the worst thing you can do, though. You'll just a. irritate the skin in your ears (which is extremely sensitive) even more, and b. push the fluids back further.
