USB otoscopes (for DIY ear cleaning) - any experiences?

[S Viemeister]

Carbamide peroxide. Very effective, but a bit pricey.

[nothanks]

I've used all the above at different times, generally before being syringed (by a damn great syringe in the early years and later by a pulsing electric gizzmo) but softening is not required before suction, and that's one of the big advantages of the technique.

[Brian Gaff]

Pity I'm blind as I need some decent ear cleaning out. Not sure if they still do it. Last time I was told I have to put drops in first. What is the point in putting more goo in before you get it out when its already fluid? Brian

[Brian Gaff]

No do not use a cotton bud in your ears. They lose their lint and it goes inside and its like concrete to remove. remember this. If you cannot see what you are doing and are not trained, never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear! Yes that is a doctors joke. Brian

[Andy Burns]

My ears are generally quite dry, rather than wet and waxy, despite the "wisdom" I've always used fingernails and cotton buds, sometimes with a few drops of surgical spirit. I notice cotton buds have gone back to weak paper stems instead of strong plastic stems due to saving the whale.

[Max Demian]

I've only used them to clean heads, capstans and pressure wheels.

[Clive Arthur]

Has this happened to you? It's never happened to me despite having done it over 20,000 times. I must be lucky.

<snip>

Cheers

[Harry Bloomfield]

I used to suffer, but not often, from ear wax build up, usually fixed by olive oil and cotton wool for a few days.

I now have a regime of using 3% hydrogen peroxide every few months, whilst taking a bath. I use an ex-vaping liquid plastic bottle, which has a small nipple allowing it to be squirted in. It then fizzes for a while as it reacts with the wax in your ear.

WARNING - It should never be used if you have a perforated drum, or if the ear is obstructed with wax - only as a means to keep them clean. The fix can build up pressure in a confined space and cause damage.

You should also never use at a greater than 3% strength, stronger will cause to brisk a reaction, generating heat and pain.

[Harry Bloomfield]

[e-mail] laid this down on his screen :

I would not waste my money on that, apart from for curiosities sake..

The ear pick looks deadly.

[Chris Hogg]

If I have very small areas of paint to touch up, like little chips in plaster or other small blemishes, a cotton bud makes a very convenient and disposable paint brush substitute.

[alan_m]

I've found the soidiuM bicarbonate drops to be effective. They are not instant but used for a week and the softened wax will work itself out.

[alan_m]

The strength of the stem depends more on the "brand". Some plastic stem buds will bend with ease whilst other resist bending under pressure. It's much the same with how the cotton bit retains its shape and remains stuck to the stem.

[alan_m]

It must depend on how hard the wax has become.

[alan_m]

If already fluid enough it would come out of its own accord. The purpose of ear wax is to naturally remove debris from the inner parts of the ear including dead shin etc.

Often ear drops alone will clear blocked ears but it's not an instant solution and the problem may apparently become worse as the wax absorbs the moisture in the drops and expands before being expelled from the ears.

When I became deaf in one ear due to a build-up of wax it took nearly two weeks for the drops to fully work. I woke up one morning to find a large smelly sticky mess on my pillow and even more in the outer part of the ear.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Just to mention, there are two very different types of ear wax, and it's down to genetics which one you have. This was probably based on racial genaelogy originally, but it's mixed to some extent in all races now. The two types handle very differently in terms of build up and softening, so what works for one person may well not work for another.

[Roger Mills]

Any chance of a photograph of your device?

[Tim Streater]

And, what d'ye put in the syringe?

[Bob Eager]

Probably these (I keep a box in the workshop, good for squirting water into joints when using water activated adhesives).

(it goes to eBay).

I would use sterile saline myself, but then I have a box of Irripods/ Clinipods around anyway (I use them for cleaning my eye socket). Easily obtained from a pharmacy.

[alan_m]

Or

designed so the water doesn't directly hit the eardrum. The problem with some is that there is nothing stopping the tube going too far into the ear and directing a high pressure jet directly at the ear drum and perforating it.

I occasionally use one with warm water.

[alan_m]

Or

designed so the water doesn't directly hit the eardrum. The problem with some syringes is that there is nothing stopping the tube going too far into the ear and directing a high pressure jet directly at the ear drum and perforating it.