ADULT: Ear infection prevention?

Let me preface this by saying that my mom used to clean my ears out from the wax build up. Some say ears naturally clean etc but I always seemed to have a lot of build up (and my hearing always improved after a cleaning!). I didn't suffer from A LOT of ear infections as a child but i do think i had several as a baby/toddler. I stopped having problems up until i got pregnant with ds2. Currently I seem to be getting ear pain, water build up, colds, post nasal drip (usually almost all of these at the same time) in one side or the other. The last 2 times its been my right ear but this time its my left. It HURTS obviously and I am tired and sick it seems A WHOLE lot more from this. Anytime i've been sick in the last several months (and it's been at least 4 or 5 times in 4 months) its been my EARS.

So what can I do to prevent this? I did a quick search on google and it says chewing gum with xirobital (or however its spelled) will help as well as a daily nasal spray. I am not sure the nasal spray is a good idea....if it all doesn't come out then that could cause an infection right? I also have a neti pot but i have the same fears about that. Should i shove garlic in my ears once a week? Maybe use ear candles (never have seen nor heard of them before) a lot?

I gotta do something. I think tubes maybe would help but i doubt that they do that for adults....