Yeah, it's foolhardy. Kids- don't do what I done.
Deaf
12Regarding the wax problem: I've had ear problems over the last two or three years, all beginning at some point when I leapt into water and the pressure on entry fucked up my right ear. It got all stuffed up, I couldn't get the water out no matter how hard I tried - and it ended up lasting days, several painful and uncomfortable days of not being able to hear out of my right ear.
I discovered that every time I went in the water this same thing would happen: a fucking painful ear infection or something. I started wearing a waterproof earplug in my right ear when I swam, and plugging my ear with my finger when I took a bath.
This went on for years! Until a few months ago when I got what I thought was mono. My doctor looked in my right ear with his light-thingy and shrieked. It was filled with crud! He shot my ear full of water over and over, and couldn't get the crud out. My ear immediately stuffed up, as I knew it would, and added considerably to my already severe discomfort. Fucking ear infection! I told my doctor this! But he said, no, it's not an infection; you've just got too much crap in your ear.
When I got over my illness I went on a serious ear-cleaning bender: over-the-counter wax softening drops, followed by warm-water bulb-syringe treatments... always followed by days of discomfort and the familiar inability to hear out of my right ear.
One day, a week or two into the bender, the most amazing thing came out of my ear. I wish I had a photograph to show you! It was as big as a bumblebee and hard as a rock, and when it was gone, it changed my life: I can hear better, and I can bathe and swim without fear of "ear infections."
My friends, clean out your ears!
I discovered that every time I went in the water this same thing would happen: a fucking painful ear infection or something. I started wearing a waterproof earplug in my right ear when I swam, and plugging my ear with my finger when I took a bath.
This went on for years! Until a few months ago when I got what I thought was mono. My doctor looked in my right ear with his light-thingy and shrieked. It was filled with crud! He shot my ear full of water over and over, and couldn't get the crud out. My ear immediately stuffed up, as I knew it would, and added considerably to my already severe discomfort. Fucking ear infection! I told my doctor this! But he said, no, it's not an infection; you've just got too much crap in your ear.
When I got over my illness I went on a serious ear-cleaning bender: over-the-counter wax softening drops, followed by warm-water bulb-syringe treatments... always followed by days of discomfort and the familiar inability to hear out of my right ear.
One day, a week or two into the bender, the most amazing thing came out of my ear. I wish I had a photograph to show you! It was as big as a bumblebee and hard as a rock, and when it was gone, it changed my life: I can hear better, and I can bathe and swim without fear of "ear infections."
My friends, clean out your ears!
Deaf
13I was hoping you'd say:
"Don't worry, you don't need ear plugs, and you'll never go deaf!"
and
"If you do this thing, you won't get excess ear wax ever again!"
Man, I know all about the fucking ear wax. I have to go and get my ears cleaned out once a month. This squishy testicle thing, no one's ever mentioned this to me before. Maybe it's not approved in my country. I think I asked once, and they said that I couldn't have my own ear syringe because I could potentially perforate my ear drums.
The thing with ear plugs is that, like a Q-tip, they push the wax and debris further into the canal. See, I have other debris, too. It's like dry skin, but it's in my ear canals. It just flakes off and chills with the wax and they have a party until I go deaf.
Once, I couldn't stand it, and I tried to break up the party with a Q-tip, and I got an ear infection. The doctor gave me these drops, and after a week, I still couldn't hear anything. I went back to the doctor, and she flushed out a white piece of shit that was a perfect mold of my ear canal. For some reason, the ear drops didn't absorb. They just solidified in my ear.
This is sick. Trust me, though. I'm super good looking.
"Don't worry, you don't need ear plugs, and you'll never go deaf!"
and
"If you do this thing, you won't get excess ear wax ever again!"
Man, I know all about the fucking ear wax. I have to go and get my ears cleaned out once a month. This squishy testicle thing, no one's ever mentioned this to me before. Maybe it's not approved in my country. I think I asked once, and they said that I couldn't have my own ear syringe because I could potentially perforate my ear drums.
The thing with ear plugs is that, like a Q-tip, they push the wax and debris further into the canal. See, I have other debris, too. It's like dry skin, but it's in my ear canals. It just flakes off and chills with the wax and they have a party until I go deaf.
Once, I couldn't stand it, and I tried to break up the party with a Q-tip, and I got an ear infection. The doctor gave me these drops, and after a week, I still couldn't hear anything. I went back to the doctor, and she flushed out a white piece of shit that was a perfect mold of my ear canal. For some reason, the ear drops didn't absorb. They just solidified in my ear.
This is sick. Trust me, though. I'm super good looking.
Deaf
14spoot wrote:Regarding the wax problem: I've had ear problems over the last two or three years, all beginning at some point when I leapt into water and the pressure on entry fucked up my right ear. It got all stuffed up, I couldn't get the water out no matter how hard I tried - and it ended up lasting days, several painful and uncomfortable days of not being able to hear out of my right ear.
Spoot,
You poor bastard. I'm no doctor, but from the tale you've told, it sounds like you suffered a not-so typical case of otitis externa, otherwise known as swimmer's ear. This is not an infection caused by the "pressure on entry" but from bacteria and fungi entering the ear canal while you are submerged.
What I can't believe is that you went on with life for years while this problem persisted! I developed swimmer's ear while on vacation a couple years ago. It hurt like hell for a few days, so I went to the doctor soon after I returned home. He flushed out my ears as you've described, and fitted them with a cotton wick. I had to administer drops in my ears for a few days afterward, but the pain gradually subsided.
My friends, clean out your ears!
And please use some common sense. If you are experiencing "a fucking painful ear infection or something," see a damn doctor. Even if you don't have medical insurance, it's a much better decision than putting up with a nagging pain all the while you're developing a serious problem.
-greasygoose
Deaf
17Once, I couldn't stand it, and I tried to break up the party with a Q-tip, and I got an ear infection. The doctor gave me these drops, and after a week, I still couldn't hear anything. I went back to the doctor, and she flushed out a white piece of shit that was a perfect mold of my ear canal. For some reason, the ear drops didn't absorb. They just solidified in my ear.
THIS EXACT SAME THING HAPPENED TO ME. And I'm not so good looking. The worst thing was that the impacted buildup totally threw off my balance when it first happened. By the time that I was in the doc's office, I had acclimated. The nurse flushed the thing off my ear and my balance was abruptly thrown back to normal. Between the un-dis-equilibrium and the rushing water against my eardrum, it felt like I'd been smacked by a baseball bat.
I am intrigued by the Hydrogen Peroxide suggestion. Is that a safe thing to be pouring in your ears? Is there a doctorb in the house?
Was actually recommended to me by the nurse above, and it helped loosen that beast out of my poor left ear. In all fairness, though, she told me to dilute it 1:1 with regular water.
She was so intrigued/horrified by the 3/4 inch long pus-white deposit that she lost all professional demeanor, yelling "Ew! Look at that!". So maybe you will want to get a more pro opinion. Note that this treatment works best when you can rest your head on something and let the hyd-per sit in your ear for a little bit, breaking up the offending wax mass. Do this for a few minutes in each ear, then go in for the attack with your bulb syringe. Or you can use a turkey baster.
= Justin
Deaf
19When I was about 10 years of age, I went through this obsessive compulsion of soaping up my inner ear in the shower, and then shooting a sharp stream of water from the shower head into my ear (brilliant, I know). I thought this was a good way to keep my ears clean. After about a year of doing this, I developed an extruciating pain in my right ear. I went to go see the family doctor. He told me there was something adhered deep inside my inner ear. He tried the mega-stream of H2O2 for a couple minutes and the pain was unbearable. Nothing came out. He looked in my ear again, and the foreign substance had not even budged. It turns out that it was a year's worth of soap, dirt and wax that had built up, hardened and adhered to the side of my inner ear. What's worse is that there was a huge pimple that formed underneath it, which was greatly contributing to the pain. He had to operate. He took a pair of "medical" needle nose pliers to the growth in my ear and pulled. And pulled some more. Eventually he started yanking, and finally got it out. He then had to squeeze the puss out of the resulting pimple-wound and follow up with some disinfecting blasts of H2O2, which at this point didn't feel like anything since my ear was numb with pain. I would rather get a tatoo on my ear drum than go trough that again.
Deaf
20michaeltheangryrussian wrote:When I was about 10 years of age, I went through this obsessive compulsion of soaping up my inner ear in the shower, and then shooting a sharp stream of water from the shower head into my ear (brilliant, I know).
I had a relatively successful mastering engineer suggest the water-stream-up-the-ear approach in conjunction with warm olive oil poured in the canal to clean one's ears. He swore by it, pointing to how many thousands of albums he had mastered.
Needless to say, he'll never master one of my productions.
