Help. Major earwax blockage

So 2 weeks back I got the blockage. Can't afford ER or anything. Tried peroxide twice. Nothing. Went in shower and ran water in ear and nothing. I'm about to take a spray bottle and try that but if it fails I'm scared ill get water lodged between my eardrum and wax and get an infection.

Any ideas what I can do to get this out?? I have ringing in that ear 24/7 and deaf now to a degree and it makes me feel sick and annoyed. I make so much earwax that I swear I could start my own freaking billion dollar a month candle business. You know what I mean.....


Thanks in advance.

Ear candle... usually found Chinese herbal shops.
Its better them doing it as they massage the area but you can get them online and do it yourself..
They are very cheap and apparently work wonders..

gonna need to save up for a bit I suppose and go see a ear doc.

Have you tried one of those kits at walgreens or other?

I have been having endless ringing and partial deafness for years..not sure why. doc looked and said its all fine. tinnitus I guess, but it started with wax buildup

Back in my 20s, I had a sudden mass build up of wax in one ear. not sure why. I had to get toilet paper and twist it into a sort of spear and swirl it around in my ear canal..that sorted it out..gross how much stuff was being produced. it eventually went away. I can only assume there was some sort of mild infection or maybe foreign object under the skin..who knows.

but if its just wax, then try one of those kits..or the water idea. ultimately thats what those kits are. use warmed olive oil. I think thats what works best..but google first

a reply to: sarra1833

You're gonna have to go to the doctor and at least get it checked out. It shouldn't break the bank and if the blockage is bad a doc is needed to clear it I still don't think it would break the bank. Look for a free clinic near you!

a reply to: sarra1833

If you have an empty syringe, with no needle, fill it with the hottest water you can stand and keep flushing your ear. It may take a while (i think it took me like an hour).



or you can get one these

a reply to: sarra1833
I had this once, went to the G.P. who gave it a quick syringe (felt like my head was filling with water).
I remember him remarking that there was a knack to aiming it in the right place, so that it would push the wax out instead of pushing it further in. That's worth considering, if you're tempted to the DIY solution.

I used the ear wax removal kit (pictured above) for my son's heavy ear wax blockage. It worked great.
It's amazing what comes out of a kid's ear.

DO NOT put anything in your ear (you may injure it or make it worse as well as potentially trigger an infection or cause a damaged ear drum) unless you know what you are doing but Autorico is correct, if you use that hot water first boil a kettle and let it go cool enough so that the water you put in your ear is sterile, for your ear to build up so much something has irritated it, maybe an insect has crawled up in there and the wax is a reaction to it's presence, the reaction also could be due to a pre-existing ear infection, either way you really should see a doctor.

It is something of a routine thing over here in the UK for doctors or nurses to Syringe a patient's ear, remember also that afterward's your ear may be exposed and a painful infection can set in, it sound's to me though like you possibly already have an infection and need it looking at.

Best of wishes, get well, I have lived with whistling in my ears for over half my life now so you get used to it.

Tons of replies, thank you all so much! Guess I should get a Dr..
Though I may try the Otc drops and sucky plunger thing or syringe first. I am scared to push wax further in though.
Dr may have to be it.
ER sigh.

originally posted by: sarra1833
Tons of replies, thank you all so much! Guess I should get a Dr..
Though I may try the Otc drops and sucky plunger thing or syringe first. I am scared to push wax further in though.
Dr may have to be it.
ER sigh.

Dang , I went deaf in both ears. Doc said he would see me after hours , it was so bad. Went there , and the nurse took a bulb syringe (the same type you clean a baby's nose with) and squirted one at a time full of water, then sucked it back out with the bulb syringe.Then took what appeared to be a flat , oversized q-tip and dug in them. Look liked she pulled a mouse out of each ear..ewwww. Then I could hear again
Off to the doc you go

I would definitely try the ear candle first.

Of course if you get any infection or pain go see a doc. Worry about the bank later,your health should always come before how much you have in your bank account.

I hope you get this resolved soon. It must be irritating.

A drop of baby oil in each ear twice a week is an excellent preventative for this situation.

Yes, before you put anything in your ear, try the ear candle. They usually cost $2.50 each. Its supper easy to use. You stick one end in your ear and light the other end on fire. The smoldering wax causes a suction and will pull a gob of ear wax out of your ear (more than you will believe, you will think it sucked out part of your brain. lol)

Read the directions you need an old pie plate to make a hole in, push the candle through the plate and then in your ear.

I highly recommend this. My daughter had a serious infection in her ear that affected her eyes, this treatment is what actually healed her.

Also, Peroxide can eat a hole in your ear drum.

a reply to: sarra1833

Call a doctor and explain the problem, ask them if you can make payments. Your a human and they should want to help you. If you live in LA I will call a doctor I know and you can see her, I will take care of the bill. Please get it checked out!

a reply to: sarra1833

a baby nasal aspirator provides a nice, gentle flow of water.

my wife is a nurse, and she has done this procedure countless times in the doctors office when she worked in a doctors office. she used a water pick with peroxide/distilled water mix to help dissolve it enough to dislodge. The trick is use gravity: lay with the blocked ear facing down, maybe if you have a dental emesis basin you can lay your ear over that. Then have a third party use the nasal aspirator to gently flush the peroxide/warm water mix until the blockage dislodges.

if you can get it in a few tries, go to the ER. Or risk going deaf.

ETA: one of these:



should only be a couple bucks at any dollar store.

Same happens to me every year. As soon as the weather warms and the humidity goes up. Theory : In the cooler dryer air earwax is dry and cracks, small pieces fall out of the ear and the canal remains clear. With warm moist air the wax remains semi-solid and catches debris, all the while building up.

I can hardly hear a thing, so -

First I use the earwax removal liquid per directions. If it doesn't work I go to plan B. Hydrogen Peroxide 20%. Tilt your head and add several drops with an eye dropper. After 15 seconds or so you'll hear a bubbling, cracking noise. that's the peroxide doing it's thing. Keep your head tilted for five minutes and then let it drain. Don't poke a Q-tip in there to soak up the peroxide, just let it run out into some cotton or a tissue. Do this for 4 days. If you still have a problem, Plan C :

The bulb and hot water flush.

Plan D is going to the Dr.

Good luck.







a reply to: sarra1833

originally posted by: sarra1833
Tons of replies, thank you all so much! Guess I should get a Dr..
Though I may try the Otc drops and sucky plunger thing or syringe first. I am scared to push wax further in though.
Dr may have to be it.
ER sigh.

You shouldn't have to go to an ER. A regular visit will do it. I've had it done twice. The key is slow and gently hot water sprayed into your ear by a technician who can see and aim the device. It takes a few minutes.

It depends where the blockage is.

I used to have ear problems, from birth actually.. until I started using an ear curette. Now I have no problem.

My ears would block up with gummy wax and start to hold water, of course then it sounded like I was at the bottom of the ocean, my hearing went to crap and I had a number of ear infections. My ear has had grommets, been wicked and it seemed to be a problem with no solution.

Now I use the spoon ear curette daily and have zero issues.

I had really bad ear wax problems years ago. I let me family doctor try to clean them out with the bulb water squirter. What happened was while he was squirting the water, the ear wax came loose and pushed it into my ear drum, rupturing my ear drum and pushing water into my middle ear. Needless to say, I was in the ER later that evening for a pain shot, and never went back to him again.

He did refer me to an ear specialist. They have special instruments that they put into your ear canal and safely pull the wax out. After going to the ear specialist a couple times, I now use a small paper clip (sharp, but not too sharp) to keep the ear wax from building up too much. But I wouldn't recommend that to someone who doesn't know what they're doing.

The ear wax removal kit from "Equate" that Autorico posted above is excellent for preventative maintenance. But it won't really work too well on heavy wax build-up.

And NEVER, EVER use Q-Tips to clean the ear canal. They can push and compact the ear wax further into the ear canal causing even more issues. Q-Tips were never made for that purpose, and it says right on the Q-Tip package to not use them in the ear canal.

Please be careful. As an EMT I can't even count the amount of times I've been called to ear traumas. Sometimes people believe that if they only stick something into their ear just a bit it'll be fine. It's best to keep in mind that there's a lot going on in there and we're talking about millimeters.

Whatever solution you choose just be mindful of that. Earwax can really suck, but a ruptured eardrum... ouch.