Help! Water in ear!

[Ginger]

OK - so I know there are a couple divers among us, maybe a few swimmers, and hopefully some people that have just had this problem before.

I was taking a shower on Friday night and got water in my ear... and it wouldn't come out. I've tried pretty much everything I can think of: pulling and wiggling the ear in all manners, shaking the canal with my finger, jumping up and down, sleeping on the side of the affected ear, cue tips, isopropyl alcohol (pretty much the same stuff that's in the "water in your ear" drops), and ear wax removal drops... and nothing seems to work.

I'm not hugely worried about infection, as I'm rather sure the inside of my ear is as clean as, well, something really clean, but I've lost about 75% of that side's hearing. I've practically resigned myself to a trip to the ENT, but I'd rather give it one last shot before I go (I won't be able to get an appt. today, anyway).

*note* I recently started using IEM headphones. For the uninitiated, these sit in the opening of your ear canal, farther in than typical earbuds (or the rubber isolator ear buds). Think of earplugs that emit sound:

These are the guys:



I didn't think to flush the wax out of my ears before I started using them, so I'm afraid I may have packed some wax in there rather deeply (go ahead, make your jokes).

Seriously - anything that's worked for you before, post it. I've had muffled hearing since Friday and it's driving me up the freaking wall.

[.RJ]

[CaptainHenreh]

Julie has ear problems sometimes, and she uses hydrogen peroxide in her ear, about a capful, and then turns her ear over.

I have never had the problem you describe, so I cannot help you.

[Steve85]

My daughter has build-up problems and also uses hyd peroxide.

Also, head to the baby section of your local grocery store / target etc. and look for a little device that has a ball on one end and comes to point. It's made to suck boogers out of a baby's nose and water/wax out of the ears.

[mrbaggio]

I have had the same problem. I think it was from my headphones as well. It will drain after a few days. For a while every time I went swimming I would get water in there. I wouldn't be able to hear for shit. Then after a few days it would drain away. I think it helps to keep your ears clean BEFORE using the in-eat headphones. Other than that just wait it out if there is no pain.

*i'm not a doctor. This is only what i have done in the past.

[damnit458]

FWIW you could look into getting your ears cleaned out (wax, etc). I'm not sure exactly how much this costs as the majority of the time I've done it it I was younger, but I used to have it done regularly when I was a child. I also had it done this past summer after I went to the beach and had the exact same problem you had (although I went about a week or so before I said to hell with it and scheduled an appointment). It's amazing how well you hear after something like that...

[ViPER1313]

Is your head congested too? Fluids in the inner ear drain into your throat - if your head is congested snort some Afrin to clear out the ducts.

[Goodspeed]

I've always just titled my head to the side so the clogged ear is facing downwards, then I smack the side of my head until it flushes out. Literally works every time. But this almost never happens to me cause I keep my ears religiously clean so good luck with whatever you do

[Andy]

I actually followed this advice and it honestly works. You just have use a small bit like a 5/32. I used the cobalt reverse drill bits help pull any excess wax out.

[drivesideways46]

I'd advise you to call your family doctor or local urgent care clinic for treatment, but here's my experience.

I've only ever had my ears flushed out once, after a particularly long day of swimming. After trying most of the home remedy treatments, I finally decided to go to the urgent care to see what they could do for me.

All they did was grab a rather large (think turkey-baster size) syringe and blasted a generous amount of peroxide into both ears to flush out the wax while I held a little pink puke-basin to the side of my head to catch the drainage that came out.

[Ginger]

OK - small update.

Thanks for all the tips. I picked up cue tips (up until then I'd been using rolled up paper towels), SWIM-Ear, and little baby droppers on the way home yesterday. I forgot to buy the peroxide. I tried everything at home and the most effective at removing wax was a combination of the ear-wax softener I had previously purchased, and the baby dropper. The cue tips proved too big to do anything but act like a mallet in my ear. I think I made progress, but I don't exactly have a good butt-dyno for this sort of thing. I can hear out of the ear, I've been trying to use it to hold phone conversations because I'm stubborn, but it's still at a rather diminished capacity. I will try the peroxide tonight.

I've heard reports that are all over the place about whether or not this will just go away on it's own. Since this week is busy I'll probably wait until Friday to see if my condition has improved. If it hasn't, off to the doctor I go.

[Jewels]

As Rex said, I have ear issues. I've used the ball syringe since I was about 10. Make sure you are using warm water. Plus, you need to give it a little bit of time. I realize this is difficult, I know this better than anyone because I do not have one ounce of patience. DO NOT USE Q TIPS until you know you've cleaned out your ear completely. I also like to put peroxide on the qtip to help clean everything out. You probably won't be able to tell a difference in hearing though. It won't be like OMG I CAN HEAR AGAIN. It'll be really subtle. Just food for thought.

[Apoc]

Ear candle? I've never used them because fire as a home remedy seems wrong but I know people who swear by them.

[Maengelito]

so I guess this is something I've never really dealt with so I dont know much about it. Are you all putting a squirt of hydrogen peroxide in your ear and letting it sit there or just squirt it in and let it drip out or what?

[Jewels]

so I guess this is something I've never really dealt with so I dont know much about it. Are you all putting a squirt of hydrogen peroxide in your ear and letting it sit there or just squirt it in and let it drip out or what?

You drop it in, and let it sit for at least a minute. You can generally tell when to pour it back out. Then use the ball syringe with warm water to clean out the ear.

[Ginger]

Ear candle? I've never used them because fire as a home remedy seems wrong but I know people who swear by them.

I actually did some research on them recently and I'm not convinced... there may be something going on that isn't quite worded right, or is an externality of the process that people *think* is going on, but I'm not willing to put my eardrum on the line It's a good tip, though, and worth looking into 'cause I'd never heard of it before this incident.

Also, thanks for the tip, Julie. All of the ear product boxes simply say "drop in ear" for directions. I don't know how that qualifies for accuracy, but oh well. I'll try both methods with the peroxide if that's what it takes.

*note -I went for a walk earlier and I feel like I might have made some progress yesterday. I think I'll refrain from putting shit in my ears today to let any swelling that may be going on calm down. THen start again tomorrow if there's no significant change.

[Dragon]

Ear candle? I've never used them because fire as a home remedy seems wrong but I know people who swear by them.

I suggested this to him yesterday. I have a couple friends that swear by them.

I know they seem weird, and honestly I don't entirely understand the concept of them myself, but I've seen first hand the crap they get out of your ear and will say they do some good. I don't know that they'll help for water, but I do have a dive friend that swears by them if she gets back from a trip and her normal drops won't work.

[Jewels]

Ear candle? I've never used them because fire as a home remedy seems wrong but I know people who swear by them.

I suggested this to him yesterday. I have a couple friends that swear by them.

I know they seem weird, and honestly I don't entirely understand the concept of them myself, but I've seen first hand the crap they get out of your ear and will say they do some good. I don't know that they'll help for water, but I do have a dive friend that swears by them if she gets back from a trip and her normal drops won't work.

I've used them. They work, but its kind of a two person job, and people don't always want to see what comes out of your ears.

[Dragon]

I've used them. They work, but its kind of a two person job, and people don't always want to see what comes out of your ears.

Definitely a two person job, can't imagine trying to do it on your own.

[.RJ]

I've used them. They work, but its kind of a two person job, and people don't always want to see what comes out of your ears.

Definitely a two person job, can't imagine trying to do it on your own.

I volunteer to shove a lit candle in andrews head!