Annual ear cleaning?

[Jeff7181]

I was having a conversation with a friend this evening that went something like this...

Her: "I was at the doctor getting my annual cleaning..."
Me: "You mean the dentist?"
Her: "No, I was getting my ears cleaned."
Me: "You get your ears cleaned by a doctor?"
Her: "Yes, every year. Don't you?"
Me: "Nope, never heard of anyone doing that."
Her: "Anyway..."

She went on to tell the rest of her story... but I find it odd that someone would go to a doctor to have their ears cleaned unless they have chronic ear infections or something, which I know she doesn't.

Anyone else do this?

 

[NGC_604]

No. I just clean them out in the shower occasionally and haven't had problems with them in years.

 

[Nebor]

I don't presently, but I know lots of people who do and I'm very interested in trying it.

 

[magomago]

I have a friend who went to an otolaryngologist and he said that the doctor told him to not clean his own ear. He should let his ears take care of it on his own, and he shouldn't clean it himself as he could damage his ears. OF course that says nothing about an annual ear cleaning by a professional, but it just mixes things up further

 

[Tiamat]

I guess sometimes the earwax builds up farther than a q-tip can reach, so that stuff would have to be chemically removed.

 

[Jeff7181]

Further than the q-tip can reach? I was under the impression you're not supposed to put them inside the ear canal at all... just to clean the outside part which is visible. (not sure what that's called)

 

[Zensal]

In some people, ear wax can build up to the point where it block the ear canal entirely. My grandma was temporarily deaf because of this and didn't know why. Now she has to get here ears cleaned out yearly to prevent it again.

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Further than the q-tip can reach? I was under the impression you're not supposed to put them inside the ear canal at all... just to clean the outside part which is visible. (not sure what that's called)

Yeah, my doctor told me not to use Q-Tips because they actually push the wax back into your ear and cause build-up.

I've gotten my ears cleaned twice. They use a silver water gun that looks like an Uzi from Counterstrike. It's a reaaaaallllly weird feeling, like a firehose going off in your ear. Then you can hear like superman. I hate leaving the office afterwards because it hurts to hear sounds...even the rustle of my shirt was loud to my ears. I had to sit in my car with my doors closed, windows up, and fingers over my ears for about 15 minutes until my brain got used to the difference in the noise level - traffic was horrendous on my newly-cleaned ears lol.

You can do it at home with one of those water bulbs...my doctor told me it was really easy, but I've never been brave enough to try it

 

[katank]

DYI job. I just scrape the stuff out w/ a bobby pin.

 

[StageLeft]

No. Nothing goes in my ears besides air, water, soundwaves.