file.newsgroup.med.59476 Maven / Gradle / Ivy
From: [email protected] (Leon Traister)
Subject: Re: Earwax
[email protected] (Stephen Montgomery-Smith) writes:
>What is the healthiest way to deal with earwax? Should one just leave
>it in your ear and not mess with it, or should you clean it out
>every so often? Can cleaning it out damage your eardrums?
>Are there any tubes in your ear that might get blocked?
Assuming that the wax is causing hearing loss, congestion or popping
in the ears, you can try some cautious tepid water irrigation with a
bulb syringe, but it is awkward to do for oneself and may not work or
may even make things worse. (My wife would disagree, she does it
successfully every six months or so.) In any case DO NOT ATTEMPT
ANYTHING WITH Q-TIPS!!!
My experience has been that this is initially best handled by a
Ear/Nose/Throat person. I say initially, because an ENT can evaluate
whether or not you might have success on your own with a little
instruction.
I am not a physician (obviously, because I eschew the term
otolaryngologist); this posting is based only on personal experience.
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"The best is the enemy of the good" - Voltaire
Leon Traister ([email protected])
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