natural ear wax solutions?

[rach03]

This is for both me and my DS, so I guess the answer may vary for an adult and a child

I've currently got a stopped up ear, and I think it's due to ear wax buildup. I had that problem into my teens, but it seemed to clear up. I guess I've got a buildup now, though. I know they have those ear wax removal kits, but goodness knows what is in them.

My 2.5 yr old also has very waxy ears. I've had to take him in to the Ped twice to have it removed. She recommended putting the ear wax softening drops in his ears while we are in the bathtub once a week. I guess we skip the flushing part since he's too young to hold still for that.

So...anyone have natural ear wax removal solutions for an adult and a small child?

Thanks

[LianneM]

I flush mine out when they get blocked. The last time I put in a few drops of warm willow/garlic oil (from Herbs for Kids) and that seemed to help it soften. I just use a big plastic syringe but you could use a regular bulb syringe too. I prefer to do it in the shower with very warm water, just bring a cup to suck up the water and flush while you lean your head to whichever side. I prefer to do one ear in a session (usually only one is blocked anyway) so I can concentrate on keeping my head tilted to let it drain. HTH some

[rach03]

Thank you! I definitely have a bulb syringe, and I'll look up the oil you mentioned. It's driving me batty..it's only my right ear, but having fuzzy sound on one side makes me a little crazy.

And I guess those oils would be okay for DS's ears as well, right?

[janasmama]

I use ear candles for myself and have used them for my young ones while nursing for a short time. They are somewhat controversial but I have a horrible wax problem and it is the only thing that works.

My ds ears were blocked, you couldn't see his ear drum at all and after candling for just a couple of minutes I could see it with an otoscope.

[thixle]

My 2.5 year old loves to have her ears flushed. She says it tickles and giggles uncontrollably. Which is awesome, because that kid has tons of sticky ear wax. I put a few drops of sweet oil (olive oil) in each ear 2 nights in a row and flush with water and diluted ACV on the 3rd night. We do this about every two weeks. The ACV tip came from a doctor friend who pointed out most ear infections are from trapped water growing fungi *eeeewww* The ACV kills the fungi. Just make sure the ears are thoroughly flushed and there is no wax left to trap water.

And when you flush your own ears, you should catch the water in a pan or bucket-- it is shocking what can come out of an ear!!!!

[askew]

I use an ear wax oil made by Similisan. It is homeopathic and it works really well.

[rach03]

Thank you guys for the tips...I ended up going to the doctor yesterday to have mine flushed because I couldn't wait any longer. I tried flushing it myself with warm water at home and ended up making it worse to the point where I could no longer hear out of my ear! It was shocking what came out of my ear!

I will copy all these tips you gave me into a word document and get some of this stuff on hand to use on my son instead of using the ear wax removal stuff from the store. These sound much more body friendly

[spiderdust]

I've always used a couple drops of peroxide and then flushing with a bulb syringe full of warm water.

[akilamonique]

Ear Candling!! My husband and I do it on each other and ourselves. I haven't done it on my son yet, because he might be afraid of the flame.
It seem weird, but it works wonders!!!

Here is a Video

Don't be freaked out by the video, it is VERY relaxing when someone else does it, you can do it yourself, but you need to be very carful, for obvious reasons. I've done it on myself several times ,but yu can do a better job when you can get someone else to do it for you.

Here are some instructions
Here is another site

You can get the candles from GNC