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[Toaster]

I usually talk on the phone with my left hand and my left ear. I was on the phone just now. I had it in my left ear as usual. I had to walk away to check on some information for the person to whom I was talking. When I came back, I was approaching the phone from the other side. So I picked it up with my right hand, and put it to my right ear. And you guys, it was two to three times as loud. I switched it back and forth a few times, because repeated results are the backbone of the scientific method, and every time I could hear much better in my right ear than in my left. Is this something I should see a doctor about? I had those hearing tests back in school, just like everyone else (you know, the one where you put on the headphones and tell them when you hear a beep), and they always said I was normal.

What gives?

[CortJstr]

I usually talk on the phone with my left hand and my left ear. I was on the phone just now. I had it in my left ear as usual. I had to walk away to check on some information for the person to whom I was talking. When I came back, I was approaching the phone from the other side. So I picked it up with my right hand, and put it to my right ear. And you guys, it was two to three times as loud. I switched it back and forth a few times, because repeated results are the backbone of the scientific method, and every time I could hear much better in my right ear than in my left. Is this something I should see a doctor about? I had those hearing tests back in school, just like everyone else (you know, the one where you put on the headphones and tell them when you hear a beep), and they always said I was normal.

What gives?

It could just be a wax blockage. In which case your doc can flush your ears. I have a wax problem and need to get mine flushed every year or so.  My left ear is always worse and it sometimes affects my hearing. It's really annoying.

[pmcd9]

You need a doctor to clean the wax from your ears?

[Toaster]

You need a doctor to clean the wax from your ears?

Think of it like the difference between brushing your teeth, and going to the dentist for a teeth cleaning.

Check out this video of prominent YouTuber and environmentalist Hank Green getting his ear flushed. I guess some people might think this is gross, just a heads up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNPoDsxAXBw

Also, my dad had severe problems with wax when he was a child.

[CortJstr]

You need a doctor to clean the wax from your ears?

Well, a nurse, but yeah. I produce way too much wax. Q-tips just make things worse. I try to use one of those bulb syringes and some of the wax-softening drops but like every other year things get out of hand and a trip to the doctor's office is needed.

[Arachno-capitalist]

Well, a nurse, but yeah. I produce way too much wax. Q-tips just make things worse. I try to use one of those bulb syringes and some of the wax-softening drops but like every other year things get out of hand and a trip to the doctor's office is needed.

That's an interesting bio cycle to have. "its an odd year, ill have to get my ears scrubbed in September"

[linnea]

As an adult, my scalp and ears are always dry and get irritated easily. However, when I was a kid I had to get my ears irrigated too. That is crazy.

[Mr Trout]

I have extremely waxy ears (runs in the family) and I've tried everything, but a few months ago I finally had to resort to having a nurse clean them out (after it got so bad I was nearly deaf). When the nurse came in the room she went over to a cabinet and pulled out a GIANT stainless steel syringe that was seriously about 18" long. She filled it up with warmish water, gave me a bowl to hold under my ear, put the tip inside my ear canal and then really wailed on it. I mean she seriously used a lot of force to shoot that water in there - more force than I would think was healthy or safe, but she's the nurse I guess.

What happened next I count among the greatest experiences in my life up to this point. I felt a gushing sensation as this torrent of water came pouring out of my ears, and then a *pop* as the giant wax ball came sliding out. The relief I felt was absolutely amazing, since the wax had not only been blocking my hearing but also causing a horrible case of tinnitus. I thanked all the deities I could think of that the ringing went away, since I don't know if my sanity would have survived a lifetime of that awful sound.

When the nurse looked in the bowl at all of the detritus that came tumbling out of my ear she actually recoiled in disgust. I'm oddly proud of that moment - I actually grossed out a nurse (and a seasoned one at that) who has seen god-knows-what kind of horrors in her 30-odd years as a health-care worker.

[Toaster]

I'm oddly proud of that moment - I actually grossed out a nurse (and a seasoned one at that) who has seen god-knows-what kind of horrors in her 30-odd years as a health-care worker.

This once happened to me, but replace "nurse" with "sex shop clerk".

[pmcd9]

So how much volume are

When the nurse looked in the bowl at all of the detritus that came tumbling out of my ear she actually recoiled in disgust.

So how much volume are we actually talking about.  I'm still finding it hard to believe this is a problem that requires professional assistance.

[KeithHernandez]

I have access to shit loads of syringes, can I just shoot some warm water into my ear?

[Mr Trout]

I would say one smallish marble-sized chunk out of each ear, plus a whole buffet of tiny pebbles (of earwax, not stone). Also some brown sludge oozed out after about a minute that had to be mopped up.

I seriously bought 3 different brands of earwax softener (all with the same basic active ingredient which I believe is some kind of peroxide), a traditional "bulb" irrigater, and a fancy "patent-pending" tri-flow syringe style earwax flusher (safety release tip included). My Girlfriend at the time stood there for about 20 min., twice a day for two weeks refilling the devices and shooting a stream of water in my ear, all in vain.

I believe the main problem was I wasn't comfortable using the kind of force that is really required. The nurse's method was actually very painful at first, and I'm pretty sure she emptied about half a liter of water into my ear in about 3 and a half seconds. And hey, even without insurance it only cost me $32 (at a private practice). I spent at least that on all the crap I bought at CVS.

[greenkoolayd]

ear candling?

[Choop]

candling doesn't work for shit

[linnea]

So how much volume are
So how much volume are we actually talking about.  I'm still finding it hard to believe this is a problem that requires professional assistance.

It happens all the time at our clinic. Dudes who work outside in the cold and stuff seem to build up a lot of earwax. Our nurses and techs are always siphoning out some dude's head by way of his earhole. It's pretty disgusting.