Ear Wax And Associated Problems

[Smithson]

I've had a lot of wax build up in my ears and it's got to the stage where my hearing's affected. The simple solution is to syringe it out with warm water.

The problem is I can't find anywhere to do it. If I visit a hospital they demand I see a specialist. Besides the cost, the specialist normally isn't there so I have to come back on another day. In the intervening period I can develop a painful ear infection.

I'd like to walk into a hospital and have a nurse syringe my ears. I've had Dr.s remove the wax using tweezers, but I don't like all the poking around and I tend to trust nurses more for routine tasks because they do them more often.

Any suggestions for prevention would also be appreciated. I tried 'ear candles' from Australia, but didn't find the that helpful.

[Beacher]

I also suffer from what's called "gluey ear". The first time I needed to get the wax buildup removed, I went to Bangkok-Pattaya Hospital and was shocked that the "doctor" there used sharp metal objects to scrape out the wax. In my home country, the procedure is done using a long large stainless steel syringe to flush out the offending wax. After explaining the situation to a friend when the need to get the wax removed from my ears came up again, he lent me a bulb syringe and some Waxsol. I put the Waxsol in for a couple of nights to loosen the plug then discharged a few loads of warm water into the ear cavity with the syringe. That worked very well, and I've never had to go back to a doctor for this type of procedure again since purchasing my own bulb syringe (45 baht) and a Waxsol type solution. Please note that Waxsol is no longer sold in Thailand but a similar product is available for about 70 baht. I'm much happier doing it this way instead of paying some quack at BPH 750 baht to do it in the most unprofessional and dangerous manner possible. I could tell you a couple of horror stories about treatment at BPH. IMHO it is the worst hospital in the country.

[Smithson]

Sounds like we could trade stories, one Dr. must of been about 80 with shaking hands, there's no way I was letting him near my ears with a sharp object.

At the same fancy hospital they have a special chair with TV cameras set up so you can watch them poking away!

I now remember the Waxhol stuff and shall try to get some tonight.

Thanks!

[maxjay]

Another solution, for more a maintenance type schedule, is to put around 15 drops of hydrogen peroxide on each ear once a week.

I buy a 3 ml. syringe from a pharmacy. Pour some of the peroxide into the bottle cap, draw the liquid up into the syringe, tilt your head, put some of the peroxide into your ear, let it sit for 3-5 minutes. Repeat for the other ear.

I think it helps prevent the wax build up.

[Lost in LOS]

Another solution, for more a maintenance type schedule, is to put around 15 drops of hydrogen peroxide on each ear once a week.

I buy a 3 ml. syringe from a pharmacy. Pour some of the peroxide into the bottle cap, draw the liquid up into the syringe, tilt your head, put some of the peroxide into your ear, let it sit for 3-5 minutes. Repeat for the other ear.

I think it helps prevent the wax build up.

I do the same thing with peroxide and then use the large bulb to clean it out with warm water. this is the tropics and your ears are hot and moist and all sorts of things can grow in there. peroxide does the trick

jjimmy

[vagabond48]

I haven't needed to have my ears clean in more than 20 years but last year after going to a CM very hot sauna several times, I noticed that the hearing on my right side was a bit muffled. Cleaning my ears with qtips I probably pushed the little wax which had softened from the heat, further into my ear. I went to my local doctor's clinic to get a recommendation for a ear doctor, he said no problem, I'll take care of it. I was a little apprehensive but trust him enough. He did what should be done, using a syringe to blow warm water into my ear to loosen the wax and I think he only charged either 150 or 200baht.

[Firefan]

Generally ears should "clean themselves" by trapping dirt/dust with wax and transport it out. In this hot/humid/dusty enviroment it can get overloaded.

I just use a mild (natural) hand soap solution and the orange rubber spray thing they sell practically everywhere.

Hydrogen peroxide (mixed with alcohol and a few drops of tea tree oil) I use if feel an infection coming up (swimmers ear).

CHeers!

[Beacher]

Generally ears should "clean themselves" by trapping dirt/dust with wax and transport it out. In this hot/humid/dusty enviroment it can get overloaded.

I just use a mild (natural) hand soap solution and the orange rubber spray thing they sell practically everywhere.

Hydrogen peroxide (mixed with alcohol and a few drops of tea tree oil) I use if feel an infection coming up (swimmers ear).

CHeers!

You're right! Generally, ear canals are self-cleaning.

Briefly, this happens because the skin in the ear canal continually grows outward pulling the wax with it, and most people never have to worry about a build up. Unfortunately, there are many of us who produce more wax than the natural growing/cleaning process can handle, so we must seek help sometimes.

I also put peroxide in my ears occasionally, but your solution containing alcohol and tea tree oil sounds better.

[mrtoad]

Generally Doctors are reluctant to syringe ears these days. Often they will suggest ways of loosening the wax, in the hope that it will actually fall out. Prior to actually having your ears syringed, it is normally recommended to have the wax softned, as this will make it easier to remove the wax. Warm olive oil in the ears is a good option to soften the wax.

It's amaxing the amount of stuff that gets syringed out though!!

[Smithson]

Is syringing the wax dangerous? I certainly prefer it to the Dr poking around with sharp objects.

In the end I did this myself after adding the drops for a few hrs. What comes out isn't amazing, it's disgusting.

The problem is the ball of wax gets so large it fills the ear and affects hearing. At this stage it's very easy for water to get trapped behind the wax causing infection. As the infected ear swells, the ear drum is pushed against the ball of wax, which .is very painful.

[Khun Ngo]

In Bangkok there is a Ear-Nose-Throat-Eye hospital on the other side of

the river, close to where the southern bus terminal used to be.

They clean your ears with a little vacuum cleaner type of device.

It doesn't hurt at all and it doesn't make you feel "strange".

It takes only a couple of minutes.

[FBN]

The last option mentioned by K. Ngo is actually the preferred way of removing impacted wax. There are several caveats to the DYI options mentioned above. If there is an underlying perforation of an eardrum (tympanic membrane) the DYI options have a real danger of causing severe and permanent damage. Peroxide should not be the preferred solution. It is extremely corrosive/oxidative and will cause tissue necrosis in undiluted strengths. Peroxide in the middle ear will cause permanent hearing loss.

The DYI option for syringing the ear has some particularly nasty unwanted effects as well. If the jet of water is directed directly at the wax plug, it may force it deeper into the canal and, if it lodges against the drum, will cause vertigo, nausea and loss of balance as well as substantial pain and discomfort.

Ideally the jet of water should be directed against the ear canal and the turbulance so created usually dislodges the plug.

After such a procedure, it is a good idea to use a mild steroid/antibiotic combination drop for a few days to ease the irritation cause by the procedure. Wax is produced by the ear canal to protect the canal and an increase in production will follow if there is chronic irritation.

We frequently see such an excessive wax build-up in workers who have to wear ear plugs for instance.

Excessive and over-agressive use of Q-tips (cotton buds) in ear canals will result in the same.

Do not confuse this with "swimmers ear"; the use of a substance such as Waxsol in this condition will aggravate the condition.

[Smithson]

In Bangkok there is a Ear-Nose-Throat-Eye hospital on the other side of

the river, close to where the southern bus terminal used to be.

They clean your ears with a little vacuum cleaner type of device.

It doesn't hurt at all and it doesn't make you feel "strange".

It takes only a couple of minutes.

Actually, now you mention it, this is what they used for me in Sukhumvit hospital in Ekamai. For some reason they had cameras set up to TVs so you could watch the whole thing.

The problem is it was very expensive. First they said come back because the specialist wasn't there. Then when I saw him all he did was give me the drop and I had to come back in a few days for the vacuuming. All up it was close to 2k from memory.

[Mrjlh]

In Bangkok there is a Ear-Nose-Throat-Eye hospital on the other side of

the river, close to where the southern bus terminal used to be.

They clean your ears with a little vacuum cleaner type of device.

It doesn't hurt at all and it doesn't make you feel "strange".

It takes only a couple of minutes.

I went there for an inner ear infection. Absolutely highly recommended. Saw a specialist. Total cost for exam, treatment, and medicine B800! If you can't afford that then you're a cheaper Charlie than me!

Here's the number off the card they gave me, the rest is in Thai so I can't help you: 0-2886-6600-13 or 0-2433-3613 0800-2000hrs

[Smithson]

In Bangkok there is a Ear-Nose-Throat-Eye hospital on the other side of

the river, close to where the southern bus terminal used to be.

They clean your ears with a little vacuum cleaner type of device.

It doesn't hurt at all and it doesn't make you feel "strange".

It takes only a couple of minutes.

I went there for an inner ear infection. Absolutely highly recommended. Saw a specialist. Total cost for exam, treatment, and medicine B800! If you can't afford that then you're a cheaper Charlie than me!

Here's the number off the card they gave me, the rest is in Thai so I can't help you: 0-2886-6600-13 or 0-2433-3613 0800-2000hrs

That's OK, except it's a long way from many of us and if all you want is to have the wax removed I'm not sure a specialist is necessary.

[Mrjlh]

In Bangkok there is a Ear-Nose-Throat-Eye hospital on the other side of

the river, close to where the southern bus terminal used to be.

They clean your ears with a little vacuum cleaner type of device.

It doesn't hurt at all and it doesn't make you feel "strange".

It takes only a couple of minutes.

I went there for an inner ear infection. Absolutely highly recommended. Saw a specialist. Total cost for exam, treatment, and medicine B800! If you can't afford that then you're a cheaper Charlie than me!

Here's the number off the card they gave me, the rest is in Thai so I can't help you: 0-2886-6600-13 or 0-2433-3613 0800-2000hrs

That's OK, except it's a long way from many of us and if all you want is to have the wax removed I'm not sure a specialist is necessary.

If you don't want to travel that far just get a bottle of "DEWAX". It's sold at most pharmacy's. It 's intended for occasional cleaning and heavy wax removable. Hydrogen Peroxide is too strong and cause damage to ear canal lining.

And as far as a "specialist" is concerned, I have noticed that many Doctor's here specialize in one field of medicine and open clinics to handle just that medical condition. And its usually cheaper seeing them in their office than at the hospital.

[ozsamurai]

In Bangkok there is a Ear-Nose-Throat-Eye hospital on the other side of

the river, close to where the southern bus terminal used to be.

They clean your ears with a little vacuum cleaner type of device.

It doesn't hurt at all and it doesn't make you feel "strange".

It takes only a couple of minutes.

I went there for an inner ear infection. Absolutely highly recommended. Saw a specialist. Total cost for exam, treatment, and medicine B800! If you can't afford that then you're a cheaper Charlie than me!

Here's the number off the card they gave me, the rest is in Thai so I can't help you: 0-2886-6600-13 or 0-2433-3613 0800-2000hrs

After being bounced around and royally time wasted from St Louis, I also headed across the river to get some 'expert' advise from the ENT hospital on a case of otitis (inner ear infection). The doctors solution, do nothing it will go away. Guess what it didn't, I now have to go back home to get some proper attention, so I'm sorry the place gets a thumbs down from me. Having had ear problems since birth I should know as I've been to a few...

Oz

[jaideeguy]

Check out this topic on earwax in the Chiang Mai forum. 'dustof' recomended and even picked up a bottle of the recomended vetenerary product and I've been using it for a couple of months now and it does soften the wax and so far no build up.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Ear-Infectio...l&hl=earwax

[Mrjlh]

In Bangkok there is a Ear-Nose-Throat-Eye hospital on the other side of

the river, close to where the southern bus terminal used to be.

They clean your ears with a little vacuum cleaner type of device.

It doesn't hurt at all and it doesn't make you feel "strange".

It takes only a couple of minutes.

I went there for an inner ear infection. Absolutely highly recommended. Saw a specialist. Total cost for exam, treatment, and medicine B800! If you can't afford that then you're a cheaper Charlie than me!

Here's the number off the card they gave me, the rest is in Thai so I can't help you: 0-2886-6600-13 or 0-2433-3613 0800-2000hrs

After being bounced around and royally time wasted from St Louis, I also headed across the river to get some 'expert' advise from the ENT hospital on a case of otitis (inner ear infection). The doctors solution, do nothing it will go away. Guess what it didn't, I now have to go back home to get some proper attention, so I'm sorry the place gets a thumbs down from me. Having had ear problems since birth I should know as I've been to a few...

Oz

You need to a little more research on the subject before you come to that conclusion. I don't think you gave them much chance in helping you. I too had ear infections as a child but they finally went away so I know the pain. Inner ear infections take a long time (some times months) to heal because there is not practical way of getting to it to attack the infection. They can give pain killers and antibiotics. It could be a viral or a bacterial infection and its very difficult to determine which. There's a lot written about the subject here are just a couple:

http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/ear-infe...-topic-overview

http://chealth.canoe.ca/channel_section_de...lation_id=18235

As far as OP's earwax problem is concerned, it's either treat it himself or go to a Doctor as people have suggested. He can even have it done at some Beauty Salons. If he doesn't like those choices he's on his own. Nothing we can do.

[ozsamurai]

A competent physician would after given the information that I gave him, being the transcripts from ST Louis,including medication I had taken for the previous 2 months, that had not proven effective against the infection, would have performed pathology tests. But he gave me some zyrtec (antihystamine) and a sudafed... told me it will go away. Whichever way you slice it, thats not what I would go to 'experts' for.

Oz

[Spaniel]

You might want to check out the Ear,Nose & Throat clinic located on Sukumvit Soi 22. I have a ear wax problem too and I have used this clinic for many years. I'm presently in the USA so I dont have their card/phone number but the clinic is easy to find. Enter Soi 22 from Sukhumvit and go down about 300 meters and you will see the clinic on the right side of the soi. If you are driving you can park for free at the Queens Park hotel and the clinic will stamp you parking ticket. I had my ear wax removed last year and I think I paid B900.