For over seven years, I've had a problem with excessive impacted earwax.
One doctor told me that there's not much I can do about it, because it's prob-
ably genetic. But, the last doctor I went to told me I could do a mix of vine-
gar and alcohol in each ear, and rinse it out with water four to five times a
year. Before I had my ears vacuumed, I tried using an over-the-counter ear-
wax removal aid, but it didn't work. I should've known better because I'd
bought it before and it didn't work that time either.
In the past I've had doctors use curettes, scoops, and even water irrigation
to remove my earwax. Instead of going to a family doctor I decided to go
see an ENT (ear, nose and throat) doctor, because I read ENT doctors usu-
ally use a vacuum. I figured having my ears vacuumed would be quicker
and more comfortable than sticks, picks, or water.
Although only one of my ears were clogged up, the doctor vacuumed both
of them. The vacuuming only took about five minutes. It was loud, and I
only felt a slight amount of pain. In the past after having my clogged up ear
cleaned out it would always sound like someone had turned up the volume,
but this time it was different. I couldn't really tell if I could hear better or
not. I read that sometimes the loudness of the vacuum can cause temporary
hearing loss, sometimes even permanent hearing loss if the eardrum is dam-
aged. The next day, I called the doctor's office and his assistant said, "Give
it a week or so. Sometimes it takes a little while for your ear to get back to
normal." She was right; after about nine days my hearing was back to nor-
mal.
If you have excessive earwax I recommend that you go ahead and visit a
doctor, because chances are you probably won't be able to get it out your-
self. I'm going to try the vinegar/alcohol mix, and hopefully that preventa-
tive maintenance will keep my impacted earwax from coming back. Wish
me luck!
