William Sommerwerck wrote:

...you can watch the clumps of dried wax make
their way down the shower drain. Quite satisfying!

They must be huge clumps if you can see them from five feet away!

Nah, he cleans his eyes first, so he can see really well.

- Logan

Jay Levitt wrote:



Better than Q-Tips is the "Ototek Loop".

This looks worth a try. Even at $5.00 shipping. :-)


Bob
--

"Things should be described as simply as possible, but no
simpler."

A. Einstein

On 31 Mar 2004 07:43:14 +1000, (THERMIONIC) wrote:

I once went to London's Throat, Nose and Ear hospital for a check up. This place was amazing. They sat me in an anechoic room and took
various readings. One test involved using a type of sonar to plot
the internal architecture of the ear. I can honestly say it was
the only time I've visited a hospital and enjoyed the experience!

I went to an audiologist to have my ears checked and molds made for
in ear monitors. The doctor used a laparoscope type camera with a
light on the end of a tiny goose neck inside my ear to check for ear
damage, which he found. Anyway we both watched the journey to the
center of my head past stalactites and stalagmites of wax coated
hairs on a big screen TV right in front of me. Truely scarey!

The funniest damn comment in this thread was the 'don't poke anything
inside
yours ears except your elbows'. Funny.

Funny indeed... but *very* practical.

True, any doc will tell you so.

If you absolutely insist on cleaning your ear with something, drop some
vegetable oil (like the stuff you'd use for a salad) into it. Wax will not
dissolve in water, unless you add some chemicals which are bad for your ear.
The wax dissolves quite well in the oil, but enough "defenses" are left in
the ear for protection.

Most cleaning products sold at exorbitant prices for ear cleaning are just
that - oil, in one form or another. Any greasy solution will do, be
vegetable oil smells and looks better than engine oil.

"William Sommerwerck" wrote:
Regular cleaning (once a week or so) with cotton swab dampened with warm
water
works very well. I've been doing for over 50 years with no problems.

I especially like it when you dig out a huge chunk of reddish-brown wax...


Erm... would that be a cylinder?

W

"Blind Joni" wrote in message
...
Better than Q-Tips is the "Ototek Loop". I found it at a drugstore,
Walgreens I think. About six bucks for a small plastic doohickey

Plain bobby pins work fine..and cost alost nothing.


John A. Chiara
SOS Recording Studio
Live Sound Inc.
Albany, NY
www.sosrecording.net
518-449-1637

Just go to the candle making hobby store and get a spool of wick. Cut off a
2" piece and place in your right ear while laying on your left side. Light
the wick . . it takes about 5 minutes. Any wax that doesn't burn up will
readily pour out of your ear when you turn over to do the other side. Hint
: Be sure to wipe off your neck on a regular basis otherwise you'll start to
look like an old wine bottle in a funky French beatnik restaurant.

John L Rice



Disclaimer for the judgment impaired : It's a joke kids, don't put anything
burning hot in your ear.

"William Sommerwerck" wrote in message
...
Using a Q-tip is supposed to be a bad thing --
only compresses the wax down into the ear.

It doesn't -- if you clean your ears regularly. I've been doing it for 50
years,
and I have never had enough wax to impact.

On the other hand, my college roommate did not clean his ears regularly,
and
when he went to clean them, he impacted the wax.

I do the same. I gently clean my ears every morning with Q-Tips ( I buy the
name brand, the store/generic brands use less cotton and are less soft )
right after my shower. I don't go in very far, just about as far as you
could see in or stick my littke finger in. There is usually just a small
residue of wax on the Q-tip.

You can also listen to a lot of stuff through headphones. It tends to make
little balls of ear wax and they roll right out. I'm not joking, I know one
other person besides myself who has experienced this. ( the volumes probably
need to be too high to be effective though )

John L Rice

In article ,
Blind Joni wrote:

Plain bobby pins work fine..and cost alost nothing.

God gave you teeth for stripping wire, and he put a nail on your pinky
finger for ear wax :-)

"Hev" wrote:
What is the best way to clean the inside of your ears?

From the British Medical Association's "British Medical Journal"

[10-minute consultation]

Removal of ear wax:

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/325/7354/27

Reader Responses:

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/conte...4/27#responses


You might also consider a visit the USENET group:

bionet.audiology

"flint" wrote in message
...
I go to a Ear, Nose and Throat doctor and get my ears cleaned regularly. I
used to do it every 6 months, but now that I don't make a living off my
ears
I go once a year.

I've tried all the over-the-counter remedies and they mostly just
irritated
my ear canals which resulted in an increase in wax production. The doctor
gets it all and I always hear better immediately.

Lucky you. I find getting the ears syringed very uncomfortable, and provides
little difference to my hearing, despite obvious amounts of wax removed.

TonyP.

In article ,
says...
Just go to the candle making hobby store and get a spool of wick. Cut off a
2" piece and place in your right ear while laying on your left side.

Won't it drip through the left ear onto the bed? That sounds messy.

--
Jay Levitt |
Wellesley, MA | Hi!
Faster: jay at jay dot eff-em | Where are we going?
http://www.jay.fm | Why am I in this handbasket?

Last night, shortly before going to bed, my right ear canal started itching.

A bit of work with a dampened Q-Tip removed the wax, and I retired to bed, happy
and grateful.

"John L Rice" wrote in message ...
"Blind Joni" wrote in message
...
Better than Q-Tips is the "Ototek Loop". I found it at a drugstore,
Walgreens I think. About six bucks for a small plastic doohickey

Plain bobby pins work fine..and cost alost nothing.


John A. Chiara
SOS Recording Studio
Live Sound Inc.
Albany, NY
www.sosrecording.net
518-449-1637

Just go to the candle making hobby store and get a spool of wick. Cut off a
2" piece and place in your right ear while laying on your left side. Light
the wick . . it takes about 5 minutes. Any wax that doesn't burn up will
readily pour out of your ear when you turn over to do the other side. Hint
: Be sure to wipe off your neck on a regular basis otherwise you'll start to
look like an old wine bottle in a funky French beatnik restaurant.

John L Rice



Disclaimer for the judgment impaired : It's a joke kids, don't put anything
burning hot in your ear.

Your joke is as close as anyone in this thread has gotten to
mentioning ear candling and I'm a little surprised that no one else
has msntioned it.

In article , "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:

Last night, shortly before going to bed, my right ear canal started itching.

A bit of work with a dampened Q-Tip removed the wax, and I retired to
bed, happy
and grateful.

Quote from a wise old audiologist:

"The smallest thing you should put in your ear is your elbow."

--
Mike Clayton

In article writes:

Your joke is as close as anyone in this thread has gotten to
mentioning ear candling and I'm a little surprised that no one else
has msntioned it.

That went around here a while back. Must be time to recycle that
thread.

--
I'm really Mike Rivers )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

Mike Rivers wrote:

dy writes:

Your joke is as close as anyone in this thread has gotten to
mentioning ear candling and I'm a little surprised that no one else
has msntioned it.

That went around here a while back. Must be time to recycle that
thread.

Wicked!

--
ha

"Bob Cain" wrote in message
...
Scott Chapin wrote:


I frequently use a syringe to clean my ears. I fill the sink with luke
warm
water to fill the syringe with and GENTLY squeeze it. Two or three
flushes
does the trick, if you do it fairly frequently.

Curious how you know that.


Bob
--

"Things should be described as simply as possible, but no
simpler."

A. Einstein

Not sure what you mean here. I guess a doctor who cleaned my ears, a very
painful operation at the time, told me to clean my ears that way. My father
told me how to as well. I've been doing it successfully and with no known
problems for 32 years now.

Scott

Scott Chapin wrote:
"Bob Cain" wrote in message
...

Scott Chapin wrote:


I frequently use a syringe to clean my ears. I fill the sink with luke

warm

water to fill the syringe with and GENTLY squeeze it. Two or three

flushes

does the trick, if you do it fairly frequently.

Curious how you know that.


Bob
--

"Things should be described as simply as possible, but no
simpler."

A. Einstein


Not sure what you mean here. I guess a doctor who cleaned my ears, a very
painful operation at the time, told me to clean my ears that way. My father
told me how to as well. I've been doing it successfully and with no known
problems for 32 years now.


Just curious how you know that the method is effective.
I've tried the peroxide based softeners followed by flushing
and always been left wondering whether it really did the
trick or not.

If somebody sold a cheap optical fiber ear-o-scope that
would let me look, I'd buy one.


Bob
--

"Things should be described as simply as possible, but no
simpler."

A. Einstein

Mike Looijmans wrote:

If you absolutely insist on cleaning your ear with something, drop some
vegetable oil (like the stuff you'd use for a salad) into it. Wax will not
dissolve in water, unless you add some chemicals which are bad for your ear.
The wax dissolves quite well in the oil, but enough "defenses" are left in
the ear for protection.

Most cleaning products sold at exorbitant prices for ear cleaning are just
that - oil, in one form or another. Any greasy solution will do, be
vegetable oil smells and looks better than engine oil.

Jojoba oil is actually a liquid wax, not an oil. Warm up a bit and put a few drops in the ear.

"Bob Cain" wrote in message
...
Scott Chapin wrote:
"Bob Cain" wrote in message
...

Scott Chapin wrote:


I frequently use a syringe to clean my ears. I fill the sink with luke

warm

water to fill the syringe with and GENTLY squeeze it. Two or three

flushes

does the trick, if you do it fairly frequently.

Curious how you know that.


Bob
--

"Things should be described as simply as possible, but no
simpler."

A. Einstein


Not sure what you mean here. I guess a doctor who cleaned my ears, a
very
painful operation at the time, told me to clean my ears that way. My
father
told me how to as well. I've been doing it successfully and with no
known
problems for 32 years now.


Just curious how you know that the method is effective.
I've tried the peroxide based softeners followed by flushing
and always been left wondering whether it really did the
trick or not.

If somebody sold a cheap optical fiber ear-o-scope that
would let me look, I'd buy one.


Bob

I guess you'll have to have a family member check it out. My doctor never
says my ears look bad. They feel right, and I can see the wax that's flushed
out. My grandfather used to do the peroxide thing, but up til now, frequent
flushings work for me. The secret is to do it often enough to avert wax
build up and hardening. For me, that's about every two to three months. When
my wash rag starts to show wax, I flush.

Scott Chapin

Peter Larsen wrote:

Pooh Bear wrote:

I happen to have very oily / waxy ears and I clean them daily.

Effect and cause?

I think you're querying if my regular cleaning causes the oily / waxiness ?

Actually I just have a very oily skin - period. I'm nearly 50 and still get
'zits' too. Crazy.

As a young kid I used to suffer ear pain caused by ( I assume ) accumulated
wax. Doctor used to syringe them sometimes. I guess I was born with the
issue.


Excessive noise exposure is however another known cause of increased
earwax production. Your ear canal responds to the horde of q-tip shaped
insects by producing more wax so as to be able to push them out.

LOL !

Actually - on reflection I reckon I clean then every other day to be honest.


I guess a warm water 'syringing' would do much the same.

There is a cleaning set available, with rubber "bottle" and a cleaning
agent, the brand name I know is Remo-Wax. It is in fact very helpful if
a wax problem exists. First consult an ENT for instructions and whether
it just is wax or whether there is some other cause of not being able to
hear, imo you should not use the cleaning agent too frequently, and
mostly just resort to warm water.

Ahhh - my reason for cleaning is not due to not being able to hear - it's
just plain irritating.


Clycerin (does that word exist in english?) was the cleaning agent used
50 years ago, it dissolves the ear wax but does not degrease, and it can
still be a good first step in case of a severe wax blockage. It is also
the carrier medium for some types of medication for dripping into the
ear canal.

I recall my mother using warm olive oil when I was a youngster to help.
Maybe it works similarly to dissolve the wax ?


Ear wax production is decreased by using proper ear plugs. It is my
experience that they also will remove larger chunks of wax if any are
there IF properly inserted (Opposing arm over the head to pull outer ear
backwards-upwards to straighten and widen the ear canal) and they will
push it unpleasantly inwards if improperly inserted.

High SPL is not an issue I have to deal with regularly now - but thanks for
the advice.

Cheers, Graham

William Sommerwerck wrote:

Using a Q-tip is supposed to be a bad thing --
only compresses the wax down into the ear.

It doesn't -- if you clean your ears regularly. I've been doing it for 50 years,
and I have never had enough wax to impact.

On the other hand, my college roommate did not clean his ears regularly, and
when he went to clean them, he impacted the wax.

This is exactly so. Regular removal of small amounts of surplus wax prevents the
issue of a large accumulation.

Graham

p.s. interesting to hear how the regs here have their various ways of dealing with
this issue - but is it ever mentioned in any audio books ?

Pooh Bear wrote:

[much skipped]

Clycerin (does that word exist in english?) ...

I recall my mother using warm olive oil when I was a youngster
to help. Maybe it works similarly to dissolve the wax ?

Probably, it ought to be a valid solvent for wax. Ear wax removal tools
are known from Viking tombs, it is certainly not a new problem.

Cheers, Graham


Kind regards

Peter Larsen

--
*******************************************
* My site is at: http://www.muyiovatki.dk *
*******************************************

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On 2004-03-29 said:
after feeling like there was water stuck in my ear canal, did
I poke at it with a cotton swab - about 4 years ago. It was a
couple of weeks before the pain and clogged feeling went away. I
thought I had given myself an infection of some sort, but after
talking with my regular doctor, he surmised that I had impacted
(compacted?) some wax and that it would clear itself naturally. It
did. I would advise not sticking things in one's ears any further
than a finger tip will pass.
True. I had a bunch of wax impacted in my left ear about 15 years
ago and it was starting to drive me crazy. Since I need my ears,
(preferrably both of them) to move about the city safely I went to the
emergency room at the local hospital.

THe doc had a look and sent in this nurse with a water pick. THe
water pick got a bunch of gunk out but it was not a pleasant
experience.




Richard Webb
Electric Spider Productions
REplace anything before the @ symbol with elspider for real email

--