Do you ever get your ears cleaned? (kinda gross)

[eRiCdWoNg]

...ok this is kinda nasty so stop reading now if you dont want to hear about ear wax. Ok so tonite I was working underneath my car when I rolled over and then I heard this loud noise, im like what in the hell I thought something might have dropped in my ear. Then i shook my head around and there was definately something loose in my ear. So I got up, went to the bedroom and started headbanging on the pillow sideways. (gross part) I was expecting to see some dirt or somethin but low and behold it looked like ear wax. Nasty. Real nasty. It was a good size too, I was wondering how much sound it was absorbing while in my ear. sheesh. I wonder if theres anything in the other ear as well. Good lord, for us who love sound and music I would think build up in the ear would be quite a sound blocker.

[Sch3mat1c]

Heh, I've had a goober of wax fall out before. Don't know what makes it happen because I usually keep things clean... psst, you have something known as pinky fingers

Tim

[cowanrg]

ive heard in japan when you get your hair cut, you also get a ear wax cleaning...

supposedly all the ear way buildup does degrade hearing. one of these days there will be audiophile grade ear cleaning kits.

[Leeuwarden]

Be very careful cleaning your ears with cotton-sticks.
I visit a doctor every 3 months to check my ear because of an ear problem I have. She once told me they should hang the guy who invented cotton sticks. She treats patients reguarly who have damaged their ears using these sticks.

(btw... she uses a kind of vacuumcleaner to clean my ear...This is not funny at all )

[kspv]

Cotton buds act as rams, pushing and compacting the ear-wax in the ears. Their use should be restricted only to drying the outer ear after a bath, i.e. absorbing water from the outer ear canal. One should never push the cotton buds deep inside the ear, or you will develop a serious ear condition.

Ear wax automatically moves outwards from the middle ear, and falls out once in a while, and therefore there is nothing abnormal about it.

Yes.. ear wax, particularly the one compacted by the use of cotton buds, makes a serious difference in auditory perception. I really feel that this is the most ignored part of audiophile business. No harm in visiting an ENT specialist once in an year, and getting the ears cleaned, just as you visit a dentist.

[slowmotion]

Hi

At the apotek

( don't know what you call that in english,
the shop where you get your medicines)

you can buy a small cleaning kit with some sort of
cleaning fluid a a small pump/bulb to clean out your ears.

cheers

[li_gangyi]

I believe it's called a pharmacy...well there's some other kinda liquid (hydrogen Peroxide??) that sorta makes your ear wax soften or somehting...thus making it easier to get at...I use some kinda "scoop" thingy to get it out...yes i n Singapore (long ago) you could get a ear cleaning when u visit the barber...he will have a special lamp set up which reachers ear level...making it easier for him to look inside...and clean the stuff out...

[Ron E]

Originally posted by slowmotion
Hi

At the apotek

( don't know what you call that in english,
the shop where you get your medicines)

you can buy a small cleaning kit with some sort of
cleaning fluid a a small pump/bulb to clean out your ears.

cheers

In english there is a seldom used word : Apothecary, that is the cognate of your word. Pharmacy is the usual word for a shop that dispenses prescription medicines, but most american (at least in the upper midwest) pharmacies were in larger stores with a wider array of hygenic merchandise - often called the "drug store". In the past 15 years or so, the neighborhood drug stores are being closed down due to competition from larger chains like Walmart and Target.

I believe the Brits call a pharmacist (the person who works in a pharmacy) a chemist.

[RetroAudio]

I've used the bulb pump for a number of years now with total success. You squirt a stream of warm water up in there and it loosens it all up and it does come out. The bulb is the same as an enema (now that's gross) bulb. Some oil usually comes with the kit that you're supposed to drip into your ear to soften it up a bit. I don't mess with it anymore, just go straight to the washing out. These kits can be found in the meds section at Kmart and other similiar stores too.

[DcibeL]

My doctor had told me that all I needed to do to keep my ears clean was to turn my head sideways in the shower and let the warm water spray into my ear. He also told me that q-tips (cotton swabs or whatever they're calling them these days) are the devil. One time I had a real bad ear infection that made me nearly completely lose my hearing in one ear. My doctor took this huge syringe about the size of the solenoid for a car starter and sprayed some fluids into my ear. It was quite unpleasant but when he was done I could hear better then I had ever heard in my life.