If you're grossed out by the picture above, please, read on...... :)
I wonder if I'm the only mum who worries about wax build up in my children's ears because quite frankly, this is not something most people get together to talk about..
" Hey, have you cleaned your child's ears today? "
" Oh gosh, yeah and about time too! I could make a candle with it... What about you? "
(Ok, ok..very Shrek..eww, gross, yuck, bleah!)
Well, we're mamas, we deal with poop, pee, boogers, snot, puke... (If you haven't, then you've got a looooong way to go, dearie) ... so what's a bit of wax??
The most common advice given that I've come across when it comes to cleaning your child's ears is usually NEVER USE A COTTON SWAB IN THE EAR!! Some information states to use warm olive oil to loosen the wax in the ear but mostly, I read that just leave the wax alone cause it should fall out by itself. (How to clean children's ears)
But I wonder, what if the wax doesn't fall out? Won't it block the ear canal and affect my child's hearing? Wax is supposed to trap dirt and dust right? So if it's left in there, isn't it kind of..dirty? And that bit about pouring oil into the child's ear, would there be any side effects?
Sometimes, experts' advice may not be a one-for-all as some mothers here commented in babycenter: Can I clean my child's ears with a cotton swab?
When surfing, I came across some ear cleaning devices. I personally have never been on a look out for them so they're pretty alien to me. Has anyone ever used any of these devices?
(Picture A)
(Picture B)
(Picture C)
(Picture D)
I do own this common ear cleaner though...
(Picture E)
So far, I've only used cotton buds to clean the outer part of my children's ears. I would only use the common ear cleaner when the wax is very near the opening of the canal--only for my older girl by the way, not for my baby. I remember the first time I removed ear wax from my older girl's ear, it was almost like the first picture above! Ewwww...
More practical advice here: How do I remove Ear Wax from My Toddler's Ears?
What do you guys think? Leave the wax, clean the wax or ask the doctor to do it? Hmm.. do we look for an ENT specialist then or would a regular pediatrician suffice? How do they charge? More or less depending on amount of ear wax?? ( :D.....Giggle... kidding, kidding!)
Any audiologist, pediatricians, ENT specialists out there.. please advise the ignoramus that I am... and enlighten us at the same time! Thanks...
Carpe Diem, ladies!
Becky
18 comments:
My husband will use the cotton bud to clean the outer part (where u can see it). I notice some has the sticky type and some has dry type. We have these 2 types, daddy and my girl - dry type. Me and my son - wet type. My husband start to check our ears every now and then because there's once that one of my ear was blocked. I was having a little flu at the time and was blocked in the aeroplane due to pressure and after one week, I still couldn't hear as normal, so I went to see the doctor. The doctor help me to clean it. Ya, once in a while, need to check and clean but I think better just clean the outer part. When my ears are blocked, pharmacist and doctor never advise to clean it by myself. They suggest to leave it and it will dry and drop out itself. If not, there's medicine to drop and dry it (use only is blocked badly like my case, not for normal use).
Ear hygiene and diseases are expertise of an ENT specialist. Audiologist manage permanent hearing problems and hearing loss secondary to ear diseases. So even though I'm not qualified to consult in this area but I can share a bit of my experiences..
In our work, we encountered many clients with impacted wax. To accurately access their hearing and to take accurate ear impressions (for hearing aids & ear moulds), we always refer them to see an ENT specialist. The cost is around RM80, independent of the amount of wax.. LOL! I know that audiologists in the US clean the wax for their clients but it is not practised here.
Just like what you shared, we always advised clients to avoid cleaning the wax themselves by using cotton buds or ear cleaner (picture E).. to avoid injury to the ear canal and ear drum, and also to avoid pushing the wax inward..
So, leave it as our ears self clean. If it is impacted, consulted an ENT specialist. Not sure about the pediatricians though..
The ear cleaners you showed look interesting.. but am not sure of its safety.. I personally never clean the wax myself, I always see an ENT specialist to do the dirty job for me haha!
Hey Ss, would you happen to know what brand of medicine or ear drops which are used for cleaning the ears?
Re Gal, thanks for the sharing. FYI everyone, Re Gal is a trained/certified audiologist.. My ques is this, what do you mean by impacted ear wax? I came across this term while reading about it.. but unless we meet with an accident, how great an impact can cause our ears to have impacted wax??
Oh Ss, I meant whether any ear drops for normal use that u might know of?
Oh, impacted wax simply means blocked wax.
Ya, cost me RM80 to clean my blocked eat at the doctor.
Becky, I don't know coz' when my ears are blocked, the pharmacist (my cousin) didn't sell it to me as he was thinking maybe wait one or two days will be ok. For normal use, no lah ... use it if it really block your hearing. If not, I don't think we need it.
typing error ... not "eat", should be "ear".
Wow RM80 cheap, Dr. David Ling at Rock Road, RM120 every visit.
When I was young my mom would use a very simple ear pick to pick the ear wax out. She would do it gently. It looks like the last picture listed. The hook on the end she used has an even scoopier look so once you get a hold of the ear wax sucker, it's just one scoop and it comes out.
She had many so I took one from her when I got married. Every week or two weeks, I'll ask each of my children to lie down on mommy's lap and I'll pick as my mother did so with me.
I don't go deep and pick only what I can see. If my kids are tired enough, one of them will usually manage to fall asleep for a brief moment. They enjoy it and so do I, knowing I'm getting the guck out of their ears.
See how family tradition is passed down with great blessings!
I went to the one at Timberland and I can't remember his name. His clinic is at the corner. After cleaning, he help me to check my nose as well.
Dr David Ling is practising at Kuching Specialist Hospital now. He charged around RM80 for wax clearance.. at least that is the latest charge I know.
Do you guys mean we can just pop into an ENT specialist and say 'oh doctor, just need you to clean out my ears?' They can do that? even if there's no real problems?
Yup, that's right! :)
well, u can.
however, usually, impacted wax should be treated only when it poses a problem ie reduced hearing. Then it needs to be cleaned out.
Usually, if something does not cause a symptom, we shouldn't treat unnecessarily. It is also not recommended to remove ear wax in young children as the wax itself doesn't usually cause problems but attempts to remove them may injure the ear canal, eardrum etc especially when they're uncooperative.
As for germs and bacteria,earwax is in the ear canal should not normally cause infection. Doing unnecessary procedures may injure the ear canal which in turn may lead to infection and other complications
Ok, point taken... guess better just leave it alone then!
I was a Paeds Medical Officer before i joined MOH admin work so i can share a bit of my experience in ear wax. Usually if there's impacted ear wax we prescribe sodium bicarbonate ear drops then refer to ENT specialist who'll remove the wax...Paediatricians don't usually remove the ear wax as far as i know :P
Just out of curiosity , have any of you ever come across a case where a person's hearing is affected due to impacted wax? I remember having friends who told me they had difficulty hearing until the ENT doctor cleared their ears... so does wax really fall out on its own? Are some people more prone to it (impacted wax) than others due to certain reasons?
Yes, a person's hearing will be affected with impacted (as in fully blocked) wax. In the worst scenario, it can reduce one's hearing from 20dB (average hearing threshold of a normal hearing person) to 60dB. Meaning that sounds softer than 60dB will not be audible to that affected person. Just FYI, normal conversational level is about 50-60dB, dog barking around 80-90dB..
Conductive hearing loss due to impacted ear wax is very common. Persons with wet ear wax is more prone to this problem.
I can understand why wouldn't want to put something in your child's ear channel, I feel they same way. We use these (http://www.libertyhealthsupply.com/Audiologists-Choice-Earwax-Removal-Drops-1-2oz-p/lhs-00101.htm) on the kids and they work wonders! I just follow the directions on the package and rinse their ears afterwards and we're good to go!
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