Blocked ears, try this.

Back in the 50s, my parents used to keep a very small bottle of BP Olive Oil for unblocking ear wax. They used to get it from the chemist. Who knew you could actually eat the stuff!

StillNotGinger

Syringing ears used to be done simply by the practice nurse. Does it ever still exist? Now we have to find a private clinic (not easy) and pay at least £50. No concessions. For a five minute job. Is it cuts, or just that the GP practices don't want to do these small ops? ditto burning off warts, probably many more.

It's a slippery slope, but I'd rather pay that £50 to my GP practice, private clinics in shop fronts feels a bit dodgy.

It is simply privatisation by stealth. At my GP's group practice (SE London) any medication review is now carried out by Pharmacists. It's forced me to go private for treatment which is considered non urgent but is urgent to me and affects my quality of life. I would happily pay a set amount to my GP's surgery for routine treatment like ear suction etc, but they cannot cope. Like most people who have paid into the system for 50 odd years, it doesn't sit well with me to go private but my quality of life is important to me.

Candelle

Thank you, foxie48.

I apparently have narrow twisty ear canals which frequently fill up with ear wax.

I have to have them microsuctioned every four months, despite my using Earol (essentially just olive oil) twice a week.

It is costing me between £210.00 and £165 a year for microsuction and the last time it was done it took 11 seconds for my left ear and 32 seconds for my right. £70 please, for less than one minute's work.

I will try the three times a day trick and see if it works for me.

The only problem I foresee is that after using just one drop of Earol I am quite deaf for the following day. Will I be deafer for longer by using three drops daily?

I guess it's worth a try.

I don't know, I'm afraid. I went completely deaf in both ears for a short time but just kept massaging in front of my ears and tipping my head to drain the ear then suddenly it all improved. 1 to 2 mils of oil is a lot more than drops, so it's a bit messy but I just found it so much more effective. Good luck, I hope it works for you, having microsuction so frequently is expensive and inconvenient and tbh even if this method doesn't work, I doubt it will do any harm.

My audiologist said to put a few drops of hyrogen peroxide in the ear every month and that way there should not be any wax build up,. One can hear it cracking like a waterfall as it dissolves.

Thank you, foxie48.

I apparently have narrow twisty ear canals which frequently fill up with ear wax.

I have to have them microsuctioned every four months, despite my using Earol (essentially just olive oil) twice a week.

It is costing me between £210.00 and £165 a year for microsuction and the last time it was done it took 11 seconds for my left ear and 32 seconds for my right. £70 please, for less than one minute's work.

I will try the three times a day trick and see if it works for me.

The only problem I foresee is that after using just one drop of Earol I am quite deaf for the following day. Will I be deafer for longer by using three drops daily?

I guess it's worth a try.

Syringing ears used to be done simply by the practice nurse. Does it ever still exist? Now we have to find a private clinic (not easy) and pay at least £50. No concessions. For a five minute job. Is it cuts, or just that the GP practices don't want to do these small ops? ditto burning off warts, probably many more.

It's a slippery slope, but I'd rather pay that £50 to my GP practice, private clinics in shop fronts feels a bit dodgy.

Thank you Foxie for sharing this simple, practical and helpful information. I've been using almond oil drops for this for years but will now move to olive oil. I'll try the chemist tomorrow now that I know what to ask for. Thanks also to all others who shared their practices and remedies. Greatly appreciated by me.

Well this is interesting. I've had a series of grommets inserted in my right ear as I've suffered with glue ear as an adult. The first one done under anesthetic in 2011. Since then I've had another 2 inserted and my ear canal cleared also under anesthetic - I'm out for approx 10 mins while they do this. The last one in 2015 was what is called a 'T tube'. Scroll forward to 2023 and I decided to avail myself of the Boots free hearing test - my hearing has not been great over the last few years.

They took a photo of both my ears. Left one is ok but right one impacted with so much wax they couldn't do a hearing test until that had been sorted. Also because the T tube was still in situ, they couldn't tell if it was still in the eardrum or just densely impacted into the build up of wax. I had to have it cleared by a specialist rather than the usual practitioner.

I decided there and then I would go private - I just couldn't face trying to get an appointment with my local GP Practice (virtually impossible) and wait for weeks until they got a referral letter to the ENT department of my local hospital then in turn wait until I got an appointment with that department (goodness knows how long that would be in the current climate) and then sit in a waiting room where 3 separate clinics have merged into one so full of children and adults and running 2 hours late which is par for the course, sadly.

I was seen 3 days later by an ENT Consultant who told me that I didn't need an operation (as I had thought) but to put sodium bicarbonate ear drops 3 x a day into the ear for 4 weeks and he would then vacuum out the residue ear wax. The T tube was still in place and doing its job. He also advised my hearing would get worse before it got better and he is right. He has said that the new NHS hearing aids (Bluetooth) are the best so I'm not under any pressure to spend huge amounts with his practice. I have an appointment with him on 4th September to do the vacuuming of the residual wax and have a hearing test after that. All together I'm happy to have made the decision to go private - why suffer? Initial consultation was £200 but in my mind money well spent. I appreciate many are not in a position to go down the private route but I'm 71 and happy to pay up and put my trust in the Consultant to do a competent job for me.

inishowen

I cant believe you popped into the surgery and were seen by a gp. Those days have gone where I live.

Our surgery is rated as outstanding. They do a telephone triage very effectively and I've never had to wait on the phone as they do a ring back if they are busy and that's always been within the hour. I've rung the surgery at 17.00 on a Friday, sent a picture of the problem, had a GP ring me at 19.00 in the evening and been able to collect a prescription at 08.00 the next morning. I honestly can't fault them but they still can't please everyone!

I cant believe you popped into the surgery and were seen by a gp. Those days have gone where I live.

Sodium bicarbonate drops work very well too.

I've heard of these candles.
What on earth do you do with them - stick them in your ears and light them?
What are they made of, and do they really work? It sounds bizarre.

I use hopi ear candles to clear the wax out of my ears. If you don't feel comfortable using them at home, some holistic therapists also offer this service. It gets all the hard wax out too.

Nothing like the old ways. My Gran did this for me 70 years ago and it never fails.

My husband had an ear operation 50 years ago, unfortunately it was not successful, but the surgeon told him to use Bicarb drops in the ear when the wax built up and he has been doing that regularly when required.

I used to be a Practice Nurse - I told all my patients if you can eat the oil(use it in cooking etc) you can use it in your ears, not everyone has Olive oil to hand, but the same process as OP suggests 👍🏻

A GP I worked for 20+ years ago always recommend warmed olive oil into ear, then lying on side for 10 mins to let oil drain down into the ear(wax) and then turn over with ear on a towel so that whatever had loosened in the ear came out on to the towel. Repeat, as required.

I use olive oil weekly once a week in my ears and I bought this plastic syringe from Amazon few years ago and all you do is put warm water in it and push water into your ear and it runs down your canal and any wax is removed it’s so simple yet it works brilliant I normally use it in the shower with my shower water. Cost me couple of quid my youngest was suffering and I got him one and it worked great for him so now daughter inlaw uses it every week on them all

my gran used to do this to me when i was young, that was 50 years ago. she always had castor oil, haliborange, syrup of figs, andrews liver salts and olive oil, she never seemed to run out of those items.

Bicarbonate of soda drops did a wonderful job getting rid of my earwax..

You can get an olive oil spray especially for ear problems - no need to lie down while it does its work and it gets to the little areas that drops don't quite reach

Thanks foxie48 - I often have earwax build up and used to have my ears syringed. Last year I paid privately (£60) to have the micro suction method, but now I’ll try what you’ve suggested. 👍😎

My audiologist recommends this method, but advises using medicinal olive oil (cheaply available from chemists and online) and not "culinary" olive oils.

Local surgery just refer people to private firms now for ear syringing or suction - another thing that we have to now pay extra for.

Thank you @foxie48 I didn’t know this method