"Miracle"

[Paddy]

Seriously? Its possible to have something THAT big go unnoticed? Why wouldn't the wax have been removed? I know my mother who has some hearing problems (operations on both mastoids) has hers syringed whenever the hearing loss gets more significant.

And who amongst us can honestly day they don't clean their ears with buds from time to time? In fact, I think I'll go do it now

At the age of two, 1cm would be the full length of the external canal. The wax would only need removing if there was a 'significant' hearing loss. Ears are self cleaning. The cilia in your external canal wafts the wax away. I have never put a bud in either my or my children's ears. The reason is that the external canal is shaped like a trumpet. If you insert a bud, you will inadvertantly compress the wax behind it, forming a plug. This then leads to problems such as infections and conductive hearing loss.

The only people that I know of that have recurrent wax related problems are those that activley clean their ears. Cause and effect, dunno

[Umfriend]

I'm with Gurm on this one. And when I'm with Gurm, that actually means something!

[Brian Ellis]

At the age of two, 1cm would be the full length of the external canal. The wax would only need removing if there was a 'significant' hearing loss. Ears are self cleaning. The cilia in your external canal wafts the wax away. I have never put a bud in either my or my children's ears. The reason is that the external canal is shaped like a trumpet. If you insert a bud, you will inadvertantly compress the wax behind it, forming a plug. This then leads to problems such as infections and conductive hearing loss.

The only people that I know of that have recurrent wax related problems are those that activley clean their ears. Cause and effect, dunno

You must be joking or have bugger-all knowledge of otorhinolaryngology. 30% of the population and especially children have no cilia in their ears (I am one). I can assure you that such ears are not self cleaning, as I know from bitter experience. For tens of years, the only things put in my ears were the tips of otoscopes and the nozzles of syringes, without which I would be totally deaf. I remember once, when I was about 8, coming home from the doctors after a regular syringe session and saying to my parents, as soon as I entered the house, that I could now hear the clock ticking: it was a massive grandfather clock in the hallway. My mother then asked in a surprised tone whether I hadn't been able to hear it before.

Of course, in those days, Q-tips had not been marketed; they arrived about 1956, give or take a year or two, so there was no question of their being used when I was a kid. They have been a Godsend since, as it means I can remove wax while it is still in a thin layer round the canal, thus avoiding an accumulation.

OTOH, I agree with you that they are dangerous if there is already a thick accumulation that you can push down towards the drum and that it is unwise the clean the canal of babies without exact knowledge of what you are doing. However, they are excellent for cleaning the baby's pinnae which seem to attract dirt into the crevices like a magnet!

[Gurm]

You must be joking or have bugger-all knowledge of otorhinolaryngology. 30% of the population and especially children have no cilia in their ears (I am one). I can assure you that such ears are not self cleaning, as I know from bitter experience. For tens of years, the only things put in my ears were the tips of otoscopes and the nozzles of syringes, without which I would be totally deaf. I remember once, when I was about 8, coming home from the doctors after a regular syringe session and saying to my parents, as soon as I entered the house, that I could now hear the clock ticking: it was a massive grandfather clock in the hallway. My mother then asked in a surprised tone whether I hadn't been able to hear it before.

Of course, in those days, Q-tips had not been marketed; they arrived about 1956, give or take a year or two, so there was no question of their being used when I was a kid. They have been a Godsend since, as it means I can remove wax while it is still in a thin layer round the canal, thus avoiding an accumulation.

OTOH, I agree with you that they are dangerous if there is already a thick accumulation that you can push down towards the drum and that it is unwise the clean the canal of babies without exact knowledge of what you are doing. However, they are excellent for cleaning the baby's pinnae which seem to attract dirt into the crevices like a magnet!

My grandmother used to (VERY CAREFULLY) use a bobby pin to clean our ear canals. My mom was a bit irked and made her start using q-tips.

Both myself and BOTH of my brothers had to have syringing done at one point or another, and let me tell you if you need syringing AND have an ear infection? HOLY CRAP DOES THAT HURT!

I prefer q-tips to the alternative!

[GT98]

I've read some place that cleaning your ears can be additive since the sensation from cleaning your ears can feel good, so you just clean it more and more...