Ear Wax - deafness

I recently overheard a conversation at the doctors. A lady had come in to make an appointment with the nurse for both ears waxing as the local pharmacy had been unable to do her a hearing test. She was told by the receptionist that she had to use oil for fourteen days first to see if that worked before an appointment could be made. Not sure what type of oil, years ago it used to be olive oil from the chemist.

I'll be watching this thread as H has the same problem.
I told the pharmasist he had been using Otex to no avail and could he recommend any thing. He said if that's not working see your GP H has a horrible chesty cough too so has made an appointment

Well funnily enough a week ago DH was told to go to A&E as he had totally lost his balance and was being sick. A&E because he has heart problems and as a result they checked for heart and stroke. Nothing found, so he was referred to ENT as Menierres was one of the suspects and worse case scenario a brain tumour!!
He was seen within 2 days. The doctor then advised us that wax had got so far into his ear that it was affecting his inner ear and its ability to work properly. A very deep and extremely painful clear out was carried out. It worked!!!!

So advise is to get your ears syringed before it gets to that stage.

P.S. Ear syringing does not seem to be on offer at our surgery now, so I guess we will have to make a case if necessary.

Our surgery won't syringe ears now either. I have narrow ear canals which don't drain very well. I've been having my ears syringed, without any problems, since I was thirteen years old. I did some research and found this, and did them myself. It's very effective. One thing I will say, don't use Otex or anything similar, it just makes the wax sticky. Soften it for a few days with plain old olive oil.

My DH had to practically get down in his knees to get our doctor to syringe his ears, as he was struggling to hear any normal levels of conversation. He used to get them done every six months or so, but they don't offer the service now. I agree that Otex is not very effective, and it's all very well putting oil in your ears to soften the wax, but getting it to come out is often a different matter. I like the look of your little device, hilda. Where did you get it?

Earol is the stuff to use. It is olive oil in a form that you can spray into your ear. My OH was a GP and still has his kit, so he does my ears after a few days of Earol.

Whitewave - I guess your OH's problem will become more common if GP practices do not syringe any more. Where are you meant to go to get this done I wonder?

Are posters saying that GP Surgery won't syringe ears at all?

I went deaf in one ear whilst having a shower. For two weeks I put ordinary olive oil into the ear. Put the oil onto a hot spoon and let it sit, the spoon will cool and the oil will be body heat. There was no point in going to the doctor first as he'd say I'd need it softened.

After two weeks I went to the doctor who sent me round to the treatment nurse who removed it

My ears regularly get blocked with wax which has to be syringed out. I have never found anything that works apart from this. Some NHSWalk In Centres will syringe your ears. You have to soften it with olive oil drops for about a week or so beforehand. I don't know why some GP surgeries have stopped doing this. The feeling of having your ears blocked is unbearable.

I have just returned from the doctors. I spoke to the practise nurse about having my ears syringed........her advice was use olive oil in each ear for 1 week and return to have them syringed. She does NOT recommend OTEX.

I also have very narrow ear canals which I had syringed since I was a teenager with no ill effects. Now our surgery recommends Otex even though I'm sure the nurse years ago actually warned me not to use it. The doctor wrote me a prescription for it last week. Now my ears are so blocked and sore it is making me feel ill.
My throat is hurting as well which I was told last time is caused by the blockage in my ears.

The practice of regular syringing was stopped several years ago now on the advice of ENT surgeons who were seeing a lot of damaged ears and research showed syringing was indeed causing scarring and trauma. Syringing is carried out under specific clinical circumstances and not as a routine and only ever after a softener has been used for at least a week. DH suffers the same narrow auditory canal problem as you grandma60 but has extensive damage in one ear now due to a very traumatic syringing on one occasion. He has just come back from the GP having had blocked ears for several months and was told to inhale steam, use a saline nasal spray and be patient.

I too used to need to have my ears syringes pretty regularly but have been told to put olive oil in them very regularly perhaps once or twice a week. This does seem to help and recently I have gone longer between the need for syringes. However different nurses and hearing clinic staff seem to reccomend different amounts. Some say just small drops others say loads?!

Yes Teetime. Good reasons why syringing routinely no longer recommended. I took my elderly mum to audiology clinic, she wears a hearing aid, and they used suction to gently remove the wax, after she had used olive oil for a few days.

OH has had trouble with his ears too - besides not hearing well he had pain and the GP syringed them and got some wax out. However the ear then got an infection which the GP said the syringing probably caused as they use a slightly disinfected water to do it.(France). We then went to a very good ENT surgeon who after inspection used some noisy machine which gave the ears a great clean out. He had a good look in the ears and told him he had a sort of dermatitis in the canal and in some places the skin was damaged and he could see the bone!! He prescribed a mixture to put into the ears daily and then went back after three months. The mixture had prevented most of the wax coming back and remaining in the ear but it was still not completely healed. We are due to go back again soon.

My mother has been going through this. We are not hopeful that clearing the ears will improve her deafness much, but there's not much point in getting her tested for a hearing aid until the wax has all been cleared out. She is supposed to squirt Earol in once a day, but is very forgetful about it and also doesn't like doing it.

The GP will then syringe the ears, but it may be the suction method Lazigirl mentioned.

On a recent thread on this subject, one GN (a nurse) said that baking powder was more effective, as it dissolved the wax rather than just softening it. I hope she will come along to this thread and confirm that.

I got it on Amazon greyduster. here's the advert I've only used mine once, but now I'll never need to go back to the surgery for ear syringing. It was so easy to use, and very effective.

Thank you HildajenniJ, I have ordered the syringe and Earol for delivery tomorrow! I will review on here.
Thank you all for your comments and help.

Husband has one of those syringes and thinks they're very good.

I used to suffer with very itchy ears, and felt as though I needed a good scouring. I tried Sterimar Audiclean and no more itching. When my nose is congested I use Sterimar Nasal spray, and it seems to help at the first signs of a cold. They are both salt water sprays, and have helped me.

I saw my gp for a referral for an audiology test recently. GP checked my ears and said they were clear of wax and sent off the referral. When I went for the hearing test (very soon after) the audiologist said I had wax in one ear so she couldn't test accurately! We made another appointment and she said to soften the wax with oil before getting it syringed at my surgery. I asked if I could use almond oil as I use that on my cuticles when necessary and she said that was fine. Since when the surgery nurse has syringed my ear clear and I have had the hearing test, which showed mild hearing loss in that ear. It still feels as though there is some blockage there though

The reasons for not irrigating routinely are very well put by Teetime. Our surgeries refer people to the treatment room where I work for ear irrigation. We issue an advice sheet which asks people to use olive oil or almond oil 2/3 times a day for a week then sodium bicarbonate ear drops twice a day for another week. The oil softens it (can be room temp or warmed) and the bicarbonate starts to break it up. This usually softens it adequately for irrigation and occasionally it comes out on it's own. As we work for the NHS we are not allowed to promote any particular company hence oil and soda bic however as long as you use something it is better than nothing. There is very little research about ear wax and products (I doubt drug companies would make a fortune out of wax removal!). We use an electric machine called a propulse 3 which has controls and is safer than a big syringe which used to be used. The NHS Trust has protocols about irrigation because of the risk of damage and we have to follow them in case of complaints. Microsuction is safer but not done in GP surgeries - can be done privately. Boots and Specsavers and probably other companies do both for a fee. We do not perform it "every year" etc which a lot of older men especially think is necessary. Of my patients today - one was going to audiology (funnily enough although the ENT surgeons don't approve of irrigation, the ENT audiologists insist on it!), one had a lot of wax and could hear after and one had no wax at all so the problem was not caused by wax so was not performed as it is outwit protocols. We are not allowed to perform this on anyone under 16 in case of damaging a child's hearing. This is an NHS Trust in Scotland. I hope this helps explain a bit. GP surgeries can decide what they want to do as they are private businesses - some will do it, some not.

Another suffer here, have just ordered the syringe and ear drops , thanks for the advice everyone. Our surgery not keen on ear syringing either, certainly not routinely, but will do it if necessary.

Hildajenni you should be on commission LOL

I asked to be referred to the local ENT dept a couple of years ago. I attend every six months where a lovely lady 'hoovers' my ears. It takes seconds and is a blissful relief! There are private surgeries who do this at a price but well worth it I would think. e.g.www.earwaxclinic.co.uk