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Hey guys..
So my daughters (7yr old) ears are both blocked solid..
We have been dropping medical grade olive oil in them for nearly 3 weeks with no improvement.
We have not pushed anything down the ear so its not compacted.
Seen the nurse who referred us to the doctor, doctor says continue with drops and wont do anything like syringe or suction because she is too young.
I know from experience (I have waxy ears too) that once they are blocked, nothing works to clear other than syringing (never had suction)
So.... What else can we try?
The olive oil should be lubricating/softening in an attempt to let the stuff slide out but its not happened after 3 weeks.
If we try the chemical route to dry it out, I assume the process of drying out the already sticky oil saturated wax could take weeks before the drying process starts?
Any experience or advice?
Check again with the syringing nurse; the equipment they use nowadays can be regulated from a gentle gush to a full pulsing blast. After three weeks of olive oil a bit of gentle warm water will shift it.
I'm a fair bit older obviously but I've had some success with sitting in a nice hot bath and gently squirting warm water into my ear with a small water pistol.
Really makes you dizzy for a while afterwards though 🙂
Nice body temp water and a bleed syringe from your unused Reverb kit.
Works just fine in this household
Piece of baby wipe folded over a vacuum cleaner nozzle and placed over ear, gently, it will suck the wax out and stay put on the wipe.
May be best to try out on own ears first
I've used some drops that fix in your ear and break up the wax which then drips out of the ear. Or the Chinese have a traditional method for wax removal that is very affective and involves the use of a thin wire with a hook or spoon shaped end to it where they scrape it out. That works a charm but really needs someone practiced in the art. Probably frowned upon by modern western doctors but the Chinese have been doing it for centuries and the Chinese people I know swear by it. they've usually got some older family member who cleans out the whole families ears.
When in Hong Kong I noticed chinese people conduct conversations at very high volume. This might explain why!
You know those hopi ear candle things? Don't do that.
Warm olive oil, I've had hearing problems since I was a nipper.
We had the exact same issue with our daughter (7).
Referred once to the ENT unit for a suringing, took ages for an appointment and she was troublesome for the entire time as she felt so isolated and was finding school tricky and playing with friends and family too. Second time GP referred her and we went to a private clinic to have them suringed. No issues, she said in the car park after that it was nice to hear the birds again. Her whole demeanour improved instantly and we felt bad for not doing it sooner!
Overnight soaks with olive oil then cotton wool plug to stop oil running out
Then after 2 -3 night I jet wash mine with a 50ml syringe filled with warm - hot water
Works of me , my mates wife does it professionaly .£29 iirc if your chelmsford way ?
Go back to the doc’s, that olive oil is all you should be putting down your ear hole, nothing else. I too suffer, & syringing is all you can do once it’s blocked. Once you’ve gotten it cleared, I’d recommend continuing with olive oil regularly, to stop it reoccurring
I would really not recommend self syringing, your ear drum is easily damaged, if done incorrectly. The nurse use a special tool that send pulses of water to break it up nowadays, not ‘just’ a syringe
I've used one of these Link with good results on some seriously blocked ears. Takes a few goes and is cheap too!
2 drinking straws inserted into each other so they reach from your mouth to your ear. Bit of tape around the ear end for a snug fit. Lie in hot bath and gently suck and blow to unsettle the wax. Worked for me
My mother in law is a triage nurse and has recently opened the Somerset ear clinic which is purely for syringing ears. I’ll ask her the question! Probably a day or so before I see her but bare with me
I've recently used Earex Advance after olive oil failed to shift earwax. It softens the wax and worked well for me over about 3 or 4 days.
Can't imagine our 7 year olds giving that a go tbh!
Preferred letting a professional have a bash at it with calibrated and clean kit when considering a 7 year olds hearing. I did think about the diy option but GP next door respectfully advised not too.
I saw an advert in Boots Opticians the other week that they did ear syringing for £35 - assume it is a side job for the hearing testers
Here is the link, though £60 for the pair. Does have other info and products etc
https://www.bootshearingcare.com/ear-wax-removal/
annual micro ear suction victim here. ENT person says dont stick anything smaller than your elbow into ear.
Take no shit from the Dr, you're never too young to see ENT. I have yrs of misery due Drs ignoring my issues when I was young. Thankfully my current ENT person is excellent and only when I was in my 40's were my issues were "resolved" ish.
Ear syringing is easily available at many of the opticians that have expanded into hearing aids. I had mine done at Specsavers a few months ago and It was less than 15 mins.
FFS, don't you even own a set of bolt extractors ?
I mean, yeah, steady hand and that obvz - keep the revs low too
Olive oil needs gentle massage of ear for a few minutes after application so that it works its way in.
In our research non medical places like supersavers didn't do kids.
No high street practice would do wax removal on a child.
It’s an ENT job I suspect. Maybe the doc is saving money by not referring, or simply feels the oil is worth continuing with.
Hopi candles helped a mate who had issues...no idea if suitable for a child as he wasn't a child when he got it done.
Wow, loads of advice. Cheers!
OK so we tried the hot bath and water pistol last night... Nowt..
I suspect that if the jet cannot get behind the plug then it will not push it out.
Stepping the hoover idea down a bit, the straw and suck method seems more sensible, I might give that a go tonight, very carefully. I wonder what ear wax tastes like?
Those Hopi ear candle things.... What a con. I was initially mind-blown when I tried them, then quickly realised that there is absolutely no way the wax can defy gravity, move past an impregnable mesh/gauze and collect above it. The mess left over that is pretending to be wax is the wax/oil left from the burning paper. Was good fun though before I researched (googled it) and also thought about it with more than 2 brain cells.
Olive oil and doctor for me. Last year the doc insisted on showing me the size of ear wax piece that came out. I thought the ear canal was slim, omg it was massive.
Don't go putting anything else in. I think ear wax accumulation is hereditary as my mother has exactly the same problem.
The feeling post syringe when you can hear again is truly amazing....
Yes, I have had a couple of episodes of complete blockage, only fixed by syringing at the docs.. I asked to look at what came out.. Ohh my!! It was like a big brown slug.
The difference is amazing, your hearing senses tune up to 11 when they are blocked, and once they are clear everything is triple volume for a few hours until your senses tune down again.
I got a severe blockage from surfing, the sea water got behind my wax and stayed there under pressure, I was close to cutting my ears off. Had to do a week of oil then first go nurse did half of it than again a week later,was was about half as big as my little finger, couldn't believe how big it was.
You may need to 'remind' your GP they are there to help your child.
Gosh so not just me then....i have seen people who have carried on swimming with ear infections. It spreads down the neck. I once flew with an ear infection, the pain on landing was excruciating.
So get the doc to do it and check all is ok.
Seen the nurse who referred us to the doctor, doctor says continue with drops and wont do anything like syringe or suction because she is too young.
I don't think that is national policy - one of my daughters' had her ears syringed at a younger age than that.
NICE advice on earwax management for 6 months onwards.
If irrigation is unsuccessful, there are three options:
Advise the person to use ear drops for a further 3–5 days and then return for further irrigation.
Instill water into the ear. After 15 minutes irrigate the ear again.
Refer to an Ear Nose and Throat specialist for removal of wax.
In the past, I found, by accident, that wearing a wooly hat for a day so the ears stay warm after olive oil for a few days helps the wax come out. very satisfying it was too!
I love having my ears syringed; somehow the operation seems to provide fertile ground for lots of smutty banter wth the nurses. My sister is a nurse so I know they are smutty-minded.
Response back in from nurse MiL "Just checked with the Dr's, there is no age limit as I said as long as the child is cooperative and hasn't had any contra indications such as infection/ pain/ perforations/ grommets etc"
I suggest booking a private appointment at a clinic, even if you do get the Dr to refer to NHS one, it'll be a reasonable wait in all likelihood. Should be about £60. Worth it for a poorly child!
Tinybits... Thanks very much..
Typically we are now on holiday for a week, so we wont be a in a position to get back to the doctor until our return. I'll start adding pressure then.
I'll start to investigate private too if nothing falls out during our holiday.
We will continue with the olive oil drops over the holiday.
Bless her, she has gone very quiet as I guess she is fed up with not hearing conversations, so just doesnt bother.
I know what its like so can sympathise. 🙁
I kinda want a great big waxy plug to come out of my ear now, sounds like a step up from a particulaly satisfying bogey that you can feel getting dragged out your sinuses.
Daughter also suffers with this, we went down the dr route and it was a complete waste of time, took years.
In the end we found this place on line, worked wonders for her. She still goes about twice a year, but we know it works and she is so much happier.
https://www.eartoearmicro.co.uk/
FIXED!
With one of these bad boys..:
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I tried it on myself first to gauge its ability to destroy ears and brains. All fine.
After about 10 squirts the wax started pouring out, loads of the golden treasure from both of her ears. As in LOADS! Big chunks of the stuff.
Result!
Thanks for your advice guys..
Pics?
As a side note, I used to get ears blocked on a regular basis. Was told it was due to narrow ear canals. Required an annual trip to the doctor to get it cleared. Would generally cause a few days discomfort after a flight, sometimes requiring a trip to a local doctor.
I stopped using in ear earbud headphones and no more problem! Haven’t had to get my ears syringed for years.
Just ordered one. THANKS FOR THE RECOMMENDATION.
Pics?
Yep, this was only half, not bad from a 7yr old.
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Took a good 10 full squirts to get the stuff moving but once dislodged, each new squirt produced a new batch.
where did you get it from - I want a go!
Those chunks are bigger in real life than it seems in the photo, both ears were stuck solid.
where did you get it from – I want a go!
Ebay:
Glad to hear your little mite is better now op. No pun intended.👍
My lad went down the whole grommet, tonsils and Ada...Ana... Ada.....oh, that other thing that do too!
Was quite a worry at the time.