constant dirty ears

cheepskate_2

hi all.

I have looked on google, but does not really suit circs.

My 11 year old for as long as i can remember always has dirty waxy ears.

It's not hard wax, nor does it seem to cause any problems, but he has to wash wax out from around his ear every few days or so.

I know some kids have more wax, and looking on google it sort of says if any problems docs will take excess out , but this just doesn't apply to him as it does come out itself , but just leaves him with dirty ears all the time.

Anyone got a child the same, just don't want to take him to doctors for dirty ears all the time

daska

Yep, we refer to them as the '****** family dirty ears' because quite noticeable that anyone from my dad's family needs to clean them every day whereas siblings with different fathers/mothers are much cleaner. What an inheritance LOL.

Dizzy_Ditzy

putting water in the ears to "clean" them out will actually do more harm than good. And do not, ever use cotton buds as all that achieves is to push the wax back down onto the eardrum again.

Olive oil drops or sodium bicarbonate drops will help clear the wax out

kingfisherblue

My middle child produces a lot of wax - and I mean a lot! He recently had to have his ears suctioned to remove the excess that had built up, and the hospital told me that he will have to have this done every six months. He needs his ears to be as wax free as possible because he is becoming deaf - but the deafness is not due to the wax, it is a problem with the nerves. However, his hearing aids will compact the wax more, and obviously won't work as efficiently. In his right ear, it is runny wax that drips out (nice.....!)

I asked for advice, as nobody else in the family has this problem. I was told that any external wax could be wiped away with a tissue, but otherwise, stick to putting a couple of drops of olive oil into the ears once a month for one day. Never use cotton buds, as this compacts the wax and can also damage the eardrum if pushed in too hard.

jackyann

ITA with above; and actually, washing them can make them worse as it irritates the ear canal.
Is it only the wax that is worrying? Some kids have eczema in their ear canals, it irritates & makes lots of wax, can be treated. Otherwise, just learn how to cope with it.
One of my kids had this and got very adept at dealing with it. We encouraged him to problem solve for himself, so that he would ask us when a trip to the nurse was needed, and would ask us, or as he got older, make one for himself. I got him on board about handling it, as it can feel demeaning or nagging to keep on at a child about a persistent problem.

It is usually boys who get this, their auditory canal is narrower than girls' ( no idea why) but they do grow out of it - eventually.

There is another thread here about atheism - I always say that if there is an Intelligent Designer, and I meet them, I am going to ask: WHY the female urethra and WHY the male middle ear? Proves to me that there either isn't one ( an ID I mean) or they are somewhat sadistic.

neverdespairgirl

Using cotton buds on the outside of the ear (those little crevices) is fine, though.

neverdespairgirl

jackyann wrote: »

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There is another thread here about atheism - I always say that if there is an Intelligent Designer, and I meet them, I am going to ask: WHY the female urethra and WHY the male middle ear? Proves to me that there either isn't one ( an ID I mean) or they are somewhat sadistic.

I have a much better question. Teeth. Who'd design human teeth?