Ear problems. (Warning, a bit gross)

This post is going to be a bit gross, so fair warning if you have a delicate disposition.

I woke up today and my ear was killing me. It had been bothering me for a week or so, but today was just unbearable. So, off I went to the Urgent Care to see if it was infected. The doctor took a look and said I had a piece of wax up against my eardrum that might be causing the fullness and discomfort. So, a nurse came in and preformed an irrigation of the ear.

Out came the single most disgusting chunk of wax I've think I've ever seen. It was black along the edges and all white/pale yellow in the center. As soon as it came out and the wetness began to dry, I could hear so much better and the fullness was gone.

My mom and I agree that it was my habit of sticking q-tips into my ear to clean it out that jammed the wax against my eardrum and caused all of this. So, I'm not going to do that anymore. I'm just going to swab the outside of the ear canal, not jam the q-tip deep into it anymore.

Yep--no Q tips! I'm glad your ear is now cleared out.

My doctor used to say "never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear" Q tips are bad news. They shove wax down your ear. Hope you feel better now

If you want to clean your ear by yourself without using Q-tips, use a pipet to drop a few drops of oil or water inside. I usually follow up by stuffing half a rolled up cotton pad in my ear. Some ear wax will come out with the oil.

My husband uses ear candles to clean the wax out.It's pretty disgusting to me but seems to help him.His ears don't drain like they normally should,he has had surgery,tubes placed in and swears by the candles.

I have had my ears irrigated by the doctor and I was shocked at how much wax
comes out, you would never think so much could be in there.
It does feel great afterward though.

Debrox on a regular basis !

I'm glad you are doing ok!

My worst experience was getting an ant in my ear. Never eat food in bed. The ants had come out that spring & I hadn't had a chance to wash my sheets. To start with I just got in the shower & let the water get in my ear. When the water came out so did the ant.

That definitely taught me.....no snacking in bed.....the hard way.

Ears can have the strangest problems

wax/water in the ear is the worst!.

glad you got it sorted though

Oh boy, this is worrisome. I have heard bits about this over the years about voiding Q-tips but I never really took action to stop using them. What is the kind of alternative that you all use to keep ears clean? I like to make sure mine are cleaned once a week and my OCD may make it hard to break that habit, but I should be OK if I can replace that habit with something else that helps prevent a problem like the original posters in this thread.

Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks.

Lie down on your side, drop a little oil or water n your ear, let "soak" for 15 minutes or so, then lie down on your other side, repeat. While on your "second side the oil, together with some earwax, will run out of your ear. So end with lying on your "first" side to allow the oil to run out of your second ear.

I usually stuff half a cotton pad, or a tissue or something, in my ear to catch the oil and earwax so it doesn't stain anything important.

Go to your pharmacy and ask for an earwax removing kit. They are very inexpensive, and they work.

yep, I've had the black and orange marbles too.

No q-tips since but my hearing is down and I saw my doctor this morning; and yep, impacted 'gunky' (yes, my doctors scientific term) ears. He gave me ear drops to use and will irrigate them next week. These drops by the way STINK!

Wow I have never had problems using q-tips right after a shower when water has gone into my ear anyway & I never push it in far anyway. Just barely inside the ear.

My hearing is really good so I would notice if there was anything impacting it....but I just got one of those bulb things to use for irrigating ears.....will have to change over to using that