I use a mini metal "rod" to clean my ears almost daily. I’ve done it my whole life. I assume this is only an asian thing. I own something similar bought from amazon with a camera and rubber tip.
Improving My Hearing
I was going to post this as response to another’s question, but then thought I should make a new thread so more people could see it.
I have seen comments here regarding hearing difficulties as we get older. At 71, I am not immune (though I have friends whose hearing is worse). While I was seeing my doctor regarding another issue, I told her about a clicking noise from one ear — I thought maybe I had water stuck and tried to get it out, to no effect. She asked me if I wanted to have my ears cleaned — “You do that here? Sure!”
She had a nurse that cleaned ears as a specialty. The lady came in with her kit, examined my ears and then started flushing them with fluid. She probed my ears with tweezers and had to flush them again. Whatever was in there had adhered itself to my ear canals, and as she pulled and pried, I felt pinching pains. Eventually she gets a grip and extracts a wad of furry content — it looked like a bee had died in my ear. That was the ear I had problems with. But then she removed a wad the same size from my other ear. I was astounded! I had tried on my own to clean my ears and felt the same pinching, but never produced much debris. This was really stuck in there! Afterward, I noticed that I could hear better.
A friend my age has noticeable hearing loss and I was telling him about this. He expressed interest and I asked the nurse about his getting such service. She said my friend should ask his doctor, who would either have someone on staff to do it or could refer him to an ear-nose-throat specialist. I thought maybe this information would be beneficial to members here. We got to take care of our own equipment too!
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@samureyex Metal rod sounds aggressive and like it could scratch tender skin if not perfectly smooth. |
At the age of 70, I had a problem with wax. Earol couldn’t shift it, so I went to an audiologist who got most of it out using suction. She could see there was more deep seated wax that she couldn’t reach safely. So she referred me to a man with a microscope. He could see there was dead skin and wax attached to both my ear drums. He was able to remove it by suction. That improved my hearing considerably and reduced tinnitus. The effect was instantaneous and dramatic. Changed my life really - more confident socially and able enjoy music again. He advised me to use Earol every couple of weeks to keep my ears clear of wax. Never use anything like Q tips. It is dangerous and only pushes wax and other debris further in. |
@newton_john Never heard of Earol — sounds like just the thing to maintain clean ear canals. Have you seen the device advertised that is a plastic shaft shaped like a spiral? You turn it inside your ear and it’s supposed to extract wax debris instead of pushing further back, but I don’t know if it works or if it also pushes debris further into the ear. |
My mother died a few years ago. A few days prior while in the hospital my sister and I noticed one of her hearing aids was missing. She is a Physical Therapist and I’m a doctor so we both know what can happen with hospitalized patients. Sure enough after turning her over in bed while searching for it it was firmly snagged between her buttocks. A few years later I was going to buy a hearing aid and my sister sent me my mothers to try out, but I declined |
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