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Earwax

I am aware that I have hard wax in my ear. I can also use Debrox for that. I have used it before too, but I have became very sensitive. It's very uncomfortable when I can't hear. Debrox will cause my ear to clog up because wax would soften up after its use. Any suggestions??
Would use of Debrox make me dizzy?
Since 3 days, I am also having heaviness in temples, eyes, brows. I dun hav insurance and so I can't go to the doctor and figure out what is wrong? Could it also be related to ear?
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Avatar universal
I am an audiologist in NY state and I am as good as it gets to remove wax.  I have a video otoscope and can use many different methods to remove wax.  I would recommend and audiologist- call and ask what kind of equipt. the facility has to remove wax.  I am very good at it (better than most PCPs) since that is what I do for patients all day.  Also, I can do testing to see if ear drum is intact before putting water into the ear canal.  I would not recommend for somebody to remove wax at home using syringe because there is not a way to know if the ear drum is intact and you can cause very severe problems for yourself.  GOOD LUCK!
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Avatar universal
A lot of ENTs use the water pick, and I have seen a lot of perforated ears due to those devices.

Like you, I like the vacum the best. I used to do cerumen removal 2 hours a day, after lunch, when I lived in Florida.

Thats what they do to the greenies, give them the jobs with all the glory.


As you said, it is a big waste to go back and forth, and to be juggled too and fro, but under the current system that is the way things are.

For me, I am stepping further and further away from all of that. I still get involved at times, but not as much.  I am more involved with training, and manufacturing etc.
Helpful - 0
152264 tn?1280354657
Life is complicated enough, and now I find out there are all these complications about something as seemingly simple as removing ear wax! :)

OK, I can see why audiologists have to be careful about wax removal... seems like such a waste to go to the audiologist, THEN the ENT for removal, then back to the audiologist for a hearing test. But I can see there's a good reason for it.

The poor guy with the Q-tip; I can't imagine.

I'll continue to take my chances with the syringe at home. What the doctors (PCPs) use, that Water-Pik thingy, uses LOTS more pressure. The ENT's vacuum cleaner is best, of course.
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Avatar universal
Audiologist ride the fence on liability, scope of practice etc regarding cerumen removal.

Logically if the laws are vague as to if an audiologist should be or should not doing cerumen removal,most audiologist would not be interested in having the tools to perform a task that may be deemed beyond their scope of practice.

For example, I would have a tongue depresser in my office or a stethescope. Or I would not have the latest and greates stereo microscope if I stand to make 5 dollars from an ear wax removal.

What audiologist do is, if they see wax, they can test, showing an air bone gabp, indicating the impact that the wax is having on an individuals hearing ability, & send that person on their way to the ENT.

On the contrary, audiologist do not make much money for hearing evaluations.

Regarding ear drum pefrorations and a syrringe. All kinds of things come in to play here. What if someone applies too much pressure, what if someone does become dizzy and falls, what if the person has a monomeric ear drum and ruptures the ear at that point?  The imagination is the limitation here.

I had one guy forget he had a q tip in his ear, and opened the door, hitting the q-tip with the door.

It vertually ripped out all his middle ear components.

PAIN PAIN PAIN
.
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152264 tn?1280354657
W/a/J: You would THINK that all audiologists would have the tools and skills to remove wax--I mean, their daily bread is doing hearing tests, and you don't want to do a hearing test with significant wax in the patient's ears, do you!?

Also, how could you perforate your ear drum using drops and a water syringe (that you don't stick in your ear at all)? That's safe, isn't it?

Nancy T.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I am sorry to hear about you insurance situation.

Audiologists in some states are licinesed to perform cerumen removal, and their rates are cheaper. The problem with that is, most audilogist do not have the proper equipment to do that type of work.

At the very least they can check your ears with an otoscope and tell you if you are full of wax. They wouldn't charge much for that at all. Me I would charge maybe 5 dollars. If you wanted a photo image, 50$.  But there are reasons for that. (equipment costs etc)

Any how, I really do not advise you to try to do this self cleaning route. If you perforate your ear drum....   you can run into a lot of problems. Painful, & coslty.

Open the phone book, find an audiologist, give them a call, tell them your situation & I bet they will help out. They at least can tell you there is wax (cerumen) , the amount of it, if it is old hard etc. They may even be able to remove it, if it is an easy task.

Sometimes it is esy, sometimes it is hard to do. It jus depends on many different variables.

Good luck to you.
Helpful - 0
152264 tn?1280354657
I sometimes feel MORE clogged up with wax after using Debrox, but you have to be persistent. I use it twice a day for a couple of days (lying on each side for 5-10 min. so it can really soak in), then I use the bulb syringe and hot water to clean out my ears in the shower. (Don't put the syringe tip IN the ear--just at the edge of it, and squirt hard.)

Then, after the water dries up completely (which may take a few hours), I can hear better. I often keep using the Debrox and take another run with the syringe until my hearing is back to normal. When I can hear things rustle again, I know I've gotten most of the wax out!

Having an ENT or PCP get the wax out is quickest and easiest but it's not always practical, of course. Until I realized I could keep the wax under control with Debrox, I would wait a year or two until it was horribly impacted, and then my PCP would have epic battles with my ear wax. Now I try to clean my ears out every few weeks, or whenever I feel my hearing is starting to diminish.

Using Debrox shouldn't make you dizzy, but lying on your side to put the drops in could. Look up "benign paroxysmal positional vertigo" (BPPV) and see if that matches your symptoms. Even if you don't have BPPV, position changes might make anyone slightly dizzy.

Putting cold or hot liquid in your ear COULD cause a dizzy reaction, but I think that would be from the temperature, not the liquid itself.

I don't know about the heaviness in your face, but is it possible you have migraines? anxiety?

If you don't have insurance, you might look for a free or sliding-scale clinic in your area if you can't afford to see a doctor. Maybe even one of those hearing-aid places that advertise a free evaluation might be a way to get the wax cleaned out, at least!

Best of luck,

Nancy T.
Helpful - 0
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