Thanks to Jeff Roth, the author of this story:
I have never been clear about the proper way to keep my ears clean. I had grown up being told by my doctor that “the ears naturally clean themselves.” The advice was to clean the outside of the ear canal, but do not go inside, as this disrupts the natural process of pushing ear wax out, possibly pushing wax so far into the ear canal that it gets stuck. Plus, it is good to have some ear wax.
At the same time, I independently learned the satisfaction cleaning out my ear canal with a bobby pin. I figured, I could just go a little bit inside the canal instead of staying on the outside. I got better at going deep inside my canal and periodically getting out big chunks of heavy, sometimes dark, wax. For 15 years this method kept my ears happily fairly clean. I was an avid swimmer and I never once had an ear infection, and I never fulfilled my doctor’s concern of puncturing my ear drum.
When I was in my mid-twenties I decided to follow my doctor’s advice, and see if my ears could take care of the cleaning themselves. I stopped sticking bobby pins in my ear. After maybe a year, my ears started to get clogged. Determined to stay on my doctor’s advised course, I didn’t stick in any bobby pins but tried an over-the-counter ear wax softening agent. I followed the full 3 day course, spending too much time lying on my side. Afterward, I flushed out my ear, but didn’t get the wax build up I knew was in there.
In fact, my hearing started to get worse, and soon, my right ear was completely clogged. I went to urgent care, and an incompetent nurse and doctor put stool softener in my ear (they said that would work the best), let it sit, and then spend 45 minutes shooting water into my ear with a syringe. Did it work? No, my ear just became painful, and nothing came out. I got a bill of over $300, of which my copay was $90, and a referral to the ear nose and throat doctor. I figured I would finally get some relief and some clear answers.
The ENT doc used 100% strength hydrogen peroxide in my ear, which he said works better than any of the softeners. Then he successfully vacuumed out the wax. I asked him why urgent care couldn’t have done that and he said it wasn’t the vacuum that is expensive, but the microscope that goes along with it. I let him know the local Costco has one. I didn’t bother telling him how I would have to pay for both the unsuccessful treatment and the successful treatment.
The doc confirmed my suspicion that my original doctor was wrong, people’s ear wax differs, and some have wax that will not come out on their own. He said I could either come in once a year and get the same treatment (which would cost me $100 copay), or use hydrogen peroxide myself every once in a while and then flush out my ears with a mix of hydrogen peroxide and warm water. I bought a syringe, but have actually found that the water pick on my shower works even better. And I am confident the bobby pin helps as well. Having finally gotten some good advice on how to clean my ear, I thought I’d share my story see what other people think.
