They couldn’t flush it? I’ve been dealing with Volkswagen-sized hunks of wax in my ears all my life: my nurse practitioner’s procedure is always to soften things a bit with a dozen drops of sweet oil (or baby laxative!) and then flush the mess out with a big metal syringe and plenty of warm water. (I once had an ear emergency-cleaned with a wire loop– I woke up “deaf” one morning and panicked– and the doctor doing it managed to punch a very tiny hole in my eardrum! Which has since healed: but still.) Word of advice: make sure the water’s nice and warm, or you’ll experience the cheapest of highs when your inner ear goes cold…. (I can’t believe I’m discussing earwax on a blog–!) Anyway: sorry to hear of your experience. Ears are very touchy animals.

Yes, tremendously amusing, thanks for the laugh…

Seriously though - I’ve only ever had mine syringed, which is peculiar enough. I wouldn’t wish what you’ve gone through on anyone.

That’s horrible to happen to such a decent fellow.

But it’s lso a delightful read and it raises one of those wry smiles.

Avoid syringing as that’s bad for the ears. As are earwigs, sticklebacks and sharp implements.

Ah, but sticklebacks aren’t just bad for the ears, as enny Roman kno.

Thanks for the well wishes gentlemen.

The wick is now no longer a part of me, and I’m slowing getting used to being able to hear in stereo again!

Now, if I could just stop feeling dizzy all the time, I might be feeling better.

Hah! I hear (pun intended) little plugs of raw potato stuck in your ear overnight are supposed to draw out the infection and help cure it. Never tried it myself, but a friend of ours who’s into natural remedies said it worked all the time on his daughter and son, and no, there were no side effects. In other words, infection gone, hearing good.

Hi…I enjoyed reading about your pain! Well..maybe enjoyed isn’t the right word but you had interesting and true speaking points. Ironically I am currently with wick and expecting to have this baby pulled out tomorrow. Your post made me laugh because it is so true how painful and weird the treatment is along the way. I too thought that after the excruciating pain of having whatever was in my left ear sucked out that all of the pain would be gone. Instead I am still deaf and have a slight throbbing noise echoing in my head. I look forward to the upcoming days when I can hear the garbled NYC subway messages again and hear the tremendously loud music the fellow passenger sitting next to me is playing in his or her IPOD. Feel better Dan!

Ang - hope you’re feeling better youself!

I’m on the mend now. Occasional twinges in the left ear, but I’m not using the drops any more and I’m really starting to feel good again.

And Raoul - Potatoes? Wow. My parents always used to say when I was little “you’ll be growing spuds in those ears” (thanks to the wax). Maybe I should try that next time…

Went to the doctor 4 days ago for asthma she looked in my ears
and stated that I had a lot of wax and a infection in both
ears well yesterday I went to the hospital because I thought
my ear drum had burst I was in so much pain the whole side
of my face hurt Well long story short no ear drum ok Just
needed a ear wick wow that was painful. But I got relief right
away Im a new woman

I am going through a fun filled ear wick experience. You are correct. It is not a fun experience, my face is puffy on the side and it hurts to chew. I have had a wick when I was younger. Never put anything in your ear bigger than your elbow. Having an ear infection sucks.

This is an odd gather all ear wick together experience. I must concur it does indeed suck. But I take heart that you all seem to have survived (thus far).

Is great that you lived to tell the story

Hello, I thought I’d leave my comments about my ear wick experience on this site as it comes up on the first page of a Google search for “ear wick” and it scared the life out of me reading this knowing I was going to have one myself…

I’ve had ear infections for over a year and have had some lax doctors and bad treatment. Syringing and suction have made my infections flare up and I’ve been half deaf and in a lot of pain for months.

So of course, I dreaded the ear wick having read about it here.

BUT - my experience was different, it was amazing!

I went in and had my hydrogen peroxide put in my ear to ‘fizz out’ the debris and this was gently suctioned by the doctor. Then he inserted the wick and I didn’t feel a thing. For a few days I had to administer drops into my ear which would get to the wick and treat my ear. It has felt brilliant ever since. My neck ache has gone, the ear pain has gone, no fever, no cold symptoms, just dulled hearing which I assume is because there is a wick in my ear.

I had it replaced yesterday (again, no pain) and might be having it removed next week.

The point of this comment is to let other people know that yes, there is a chance your wick may hurt but there is also a chance that if a good, gentle health person does the treatment, it might be heavenly!!!

oh thank you, i found someone who has went through what im going through now just be googling ear wick. I am on day 4 with one ear infection and day 1 with a new ear infection it is hell. The first day I was in so much pain by evening I was taken to emergency, day 2 was no better screaming pain every 2 - 4hrs where I had to take a pain killer, day 4 better I went a whole day without pain killers but when to the doctors to have it checked out and got the sringe full of water treatment and not one but both my ears with ear wicks, now its late at night and its driving up the wall with 1. what is an ear wick? and 2. im getting a feaver so its freezing for me while my partner is boiling hot. Tonite is going to be fun debating weather to have the aircon on or off. in the meantime these ear wicks are driving me insane, im to keep up the treatment perscribe on sun and on friday morning see the doctor, one day to go now and ill be counting. The doctor said ill feel a lot better tommrrow I really hope so. my partner just came in and said it was huge she was probably refering to my post, definatly not my dick. Wish me luck im going through hell.

That is the first thing everyone does, Google ear wick when they get it. When the doc said i had to leave the wick in my ear for the next four days and then come back to him to have it removed I said “you gotta be kidding”!!!

It is not a nice feeling, but if it helps me then i will just have to put up with it,….. easy to say on day 1.

It is not painful, but really uncomfortable, and not something i want to have again.

Get well soon Cliff. It’s amazing how many people have to have these things in, I’d never heard of them when I had mine!

You hit the nail on the head though: if it helps to fix the problem, so be it.

Good luck!

It is amazing the dates on the thread for this post… but i would have to say it’s mainly to do with being the in the top ten google results for ‘Ear Wick’. Wouldn’t that be one for blog records… ‘Blog becomes famous for Ear Wick search…’ In any event, i too suffer from frequent ear infections and just recieved my wick a couple days ago… just have to comment that getting your ear irrigated as they say in the states (pumped with water from syringe) is actually rather bad for you…

They did it too me a few months back during one of my outer ear infections and the ENT (Ear Nose Throat) Dr. berated the General Practitioners for doing such a thing, and told me never to let them do it again. That instead I should see him and he would be a good fellow and use his special tools to suck out the gunk.

Also if you prone to outer ear infections you might want to get a certain type of prescribed ear drop. Due to the nature of my ear, the skin in my outer ear that flakes off does so more frequently then most. Mix that with water and it often leads to outer ear infection. So if you find yourself with another nasty outer ear infection talk to your ENT dr. He knows a lot more about ears then the General Practitioners…

and on with fame and fortune from ear wick searches…

(Also note, I usually don’t respond to blog enteries; this is my first time and I just felt compelled)

I also google’d. I have had an ear infection for about a year now, a newlywed, and I ran out of medical money a while ago so I can’t afford to go to another doctor who will waste my time. I’ve been through seven full courses of antibiotics and, thanks to their lazy negligence, I’m not only still sick with what I figured out myself is “swimmer’s ear”, but I am also practically immune to two families of antibiotics. But anyway. I’ve been deaf on my left side for about a week now; I put my finger in my ear because it itched and I pulled out what looked like mayo. Then it hardened, my jaw is locked, and my face is swollen. I can buy these wicks in the store, and I have a nice supply of ear drops…do you think a wick is something I could put in myself?

Needing help here; going through hell.

Paul
fallingblack

Yes, I just had a wick inserted in my ear and it is so very painful. The doctor inserted one, took it out and put another one in. The irony in this is that I went to the doctor to feel better, but now I feel worse.

lol this is the only website that had anything about ear wicks. i just had mine put in today. god its painfull. i went to the doctor because my ear drum exploded and the discharge clogged up my ear. so i went to the doctor to have it cleaned. and then he placed an ear wick covered in cream inside of my ear and closed it with a cotton ball while repeating to me serverl times not to let water in my ear. i have to keep this on for 2days. while taking an anti biotic for 7 days. after the 2 days i remove it and start using ear drops. now let me say one thing. asprin is useless. im having 6-8 a day adn there useless. the pain is unberable i cant even sleep.

Man, good to hear other’s going through the same experience I’m going through.

I got the ear wick done yesterday night and I have to say it’s really uncomfortable. I got it after my infection was mostly treated though, I had been to the ER twice and both times they simply gave me antibiotics instead of drops, the first time amoxicillin (which the infection just got worse on) and the second time Cefprozil which actually helped clear up the infection and a lot of the pain.

I got the wick put in and the drops too and reapplied the drops this morning (boy was that fun holding a mirror up while lying down while trying to get the drops in without touching the sides of my ears. It was like a game of operation without a buzzing red nose.

I made the mistake of doing it before I took my shower though, and I think I have shampoo/conditioner trapped in my middle ear now. I’m really worried this is going to cause another infection and just worsen things. Stupid earwick is actually preventing me from clearing out my ear since I can’t get the water out now and the earwick is so deep in my ear I can’t get a grip on it with my fingers.

If my ear gets worse I’m going to be extremely mad. They didn’t say anything about having to be careful when showering or anything, I just assumed a little water and such from showering would simply flush itself out. However the wick is blocking everything was exiting my ear, it’s like a one way trap door. I’m not even entirely sure that the drops are still doing their job since the shower may have rinsed them all out.