The Best Way to Remove Ear Wax
Irrigation (also called ear syringing), which involves flushing out ear wax with a low pressure jet of warm (body temperature) water, works up to 70 to 90 percent of the time.
If you missed the previous video, see Are There Any Benefits to Ear Candling? ( ).
I covered hearing loss in a one-hour webinar and Q&A. Check out the recording ( ).
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-Michael Greger, MD FACLM
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Such interesting info. I really like getting ear wax out.
What about ear candling?
he just did a few videos on that.
its bs
Complete nonsense. Does nothing but lighten your wallet.
It’s a scam
Dr Gregor – please make a video on how to treat or manage tinnitus. Thank you !
If only there was something we could do about this. I’d love to see him discuss it.
Tinnitus and nerve damage is what I’m interested in.
There is a technique where you cup your ears with your palms and tap the back of the head with your fingers, creating a beat sound in your head, the inner noise helps the nerves recalibrate and the tinnitus sound can vanish for a while. It should be easy to google. Another thing I’d suggest trying is red light therapy, you can get ear buds that blast red light into your ear to help with nerve repair, so hopefully the sound overall should lessen if not vanish if you’re lucky.
There’s no treatment but I have seen hearing aids with “tinnitus” settings, which I presume work like noise-cancelling, but we have to dial in the frequencies because there’s no audible sound for them to pick up. I’ve been living with tinnitus for most of my 58 years. Nothing has improved it–but my ears are really sensitive to loudness, and I use earplugs A LOT. If I don’t use ear plugs around noisy things-it only gets worse. With ear protection, it doesn’t get worse. It just always is. Most of the time I don’t think about it, but other times the ringing/crickets noise seems so loud that others should be hearing it. Endeavor to persevere but this is nerve damage and we’re not real good at fixing nerves yet.
I use ear plugs nearly every day. THUS I do have to clean them. I do prefer noise cancelling headsets-but they aren’t enough for many of the things I’m protecting my hearing (despite the extant tinnitus) against. If you don’t keep them clean and use earplugs, you’ll get a nasty buildup and pack it into the canals with the plugs. Swabs—work for me and will continue to do so. All those disclaimers are from the legal staff.
What do I do when my inner ear itches and mine does a lot more than it should? I constantly scratch my inner ear, and it is not good.
I dunno what your issue is, but if it’s dryness, applying a small amount of vaseline to the walls of the ear canal may help. It helps my partner at least.
I put a drop or two of 3% hydrogen peroxide solution in each ear (doing only one ear at a time— then after about 30 seconds tilting my head the other way to allow it to run back out). This immediately made my ears stop itching. I haven’t had to repeat it. (My ears previously itched from my earbuds I wear pretty much every waking moment, even at work.)
I know they say not to use q-tip, however, I have done it everyday for decades without negative consequence, unlike my friends who do not use them but their ears constantly blocked with wax.
Thanks for this video! Just wanted to add that wax isn’t the only thing that can block the ear canal and mimic hearing loss. Since a severe external ear infection 23 years ago, I’ve had persistent dampness in the ear canals, along with a buildup of shed skin in my ear canal, some of which adheres to my eardrum. Because it is light in color, my GP couldn’t see it with her little flashlight. Eventually I was advised to return to the ENT clinic for cleanings every six months, where they have better tools for examining and cleaning the ear canal. I also was told the liquid actually isn’t from showers or swimming, as we’re often told, but is an exudate. Before the cleaning, I tested as someone who needed hearing aids, which cost me $3,000. Cleaning made a huge difference for me — a hearing test after cleaning showed that I didn’t actually need hearing aids. So try to get an ENT cleaning if your hearing seems muffled.
I get eczema in one ear, and it gets scaly and it will occasionally ooze. I have found that washing my outer ear and my ear canal as far as my finger will go with a zinc based dandruff shampoo prevents this. Then rinse the outer ear gently in the shower. Rinsing my outer ears every shower prevents wax buildup too.
Thank you for such a thorough look, especially given weird data. Getting fit for hearing aids this month. Be careful of long term exposure to loud music!
So what DO we DO?
Watch the video. He explains everything in less than 5 minutes 😂
Getting ears flushed out by a doctor is the best method.
I use cotton buds.
When the doc says not to put things in your holes…
What about a pen cap or the tips of your glasses?
What about micro suction? It’s very popular amongst certain people here in the UK and I wonder if there is any good data on its efficacy or potential harm?
Thank you, Dr Greger.
Dear dr Please do a video on Rheumatoid Arthritis Diagnostic tools and Treatment
I missed it 🤔
What was the best way to remove ear wax?
Is it go to the hospital every time I have I think there is wax buildup?
Thank you!
Vegetable oil in my ear and rest my head on one side for five to ten minutes.
At least once a day, both sides… and the ear wax just softens and comes out all by itself.
😌
So irrigation with a bulb syringe is the best?