My son who is 4 1/2 has build of wax in his ears for the first time. I am not sure why this happened and am getting many different opinions on how to handle this.
Any advice ?
Thank you all for your advice - I used Debrox once - nothing came out but two days later in the car my son proudly said what is this and showed me his finger with a big chunk of wax which had come out . He then did this again one more day and on our next doctors visit it was all gone !!
Being that he is so young..I would suggest EAR Coning.
You can do and also anyone else. They are less expensive than having someone do it. I do it my self couple times a year, it is available in places like Vitamin Shoppee, they sell them and some Holistic places...and feels good. Their are people who do it for you but they charge a fee, I use to do it as a small business, I charged
$45/per person.
My almost 5-year old has always had a problem with earwax buildup also. Our pediatrician suggested that we put a few drops of mineral oil in his ears a couple of hours before his bath and then, when he takes his bath, have him dunk his head back in the water and this will remove the earwax. I do this to my own ears and I can't feel the oil in there.
Good luck!
I agree with Rachel M. My oldest also has excessive wax and when she was a baby, she had a clog that the doctor used the aspirator and water solution to get it out. This would be my recommendation. Just make sure to have the head turned so that the ear you are cleaning is facing down on a towel to catch all the gook that comes out.
Hi V.! Our pediatrician told us to use a cotton ball soaked in hydrogen peroxide. We also use q-tips (against just about every doctors wishes) but we just swab the entrance of the ear and never swab inside the ear canal. Anyway he had told us that, for some reason, the wax sticks to the peroxide and will actually help to pull out some of the excess. It's worked like a charm for us. Hope that helps.
Hi, V..
As I understand it, the ear is a 'self-cleaning' thing. But I have one child who makes enough earwax for the whole family. Even as an infant, the pediatrician would take her specially made ear cleaning tool and scoop out loads of the stuff. I was content with this and either waited for her to do it (since I knew she would do so safely) or I'd keep an eye on it and scoop out the chunks that worked their way up to the outer ear. Then I would tidy up the outer ear with a Q-tip. I never put things down in his ear because, with that much wax floating around, the risk of pushing it deep into the canal was very real. We continue this approach to this day. He still has lots of earwax, but it has never caused a problem.
I also saw a product at the pharmacy that might help: a liquid ear cleaner called something like Audi-clear. I would talk to your pharmacist about whether or not such a thing is suitable for little guys -- and if you have any concerns, bring it up during your next trip to the pediatrician.
Good luck!
There is a new adage that is making this one tough for everyone. Never stick anything smaller than your elbow, or bigger than a whale in your ear! This is actually really true. My daughter has had build up too. Q tips are dangerous in terms of scratching the ear drum etc. They also just push the wax down in further and against the eardrum. For Ella, my daughter, I use a Tbs of hydrogen peroxide with a Tbs of water (or a one to one ratio at least). I then use a bulb aspirater (you know the thing thing you use to suck out snot when they're sick? I have a separate one for this job though) suck up the mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water into the aspirator and squeeze the mixture into an ear. He'll hate it! but it is quick and the Hydrogen peroxide dissolves a lot of the gunk. The first time his outer ear will look worse because it brings up all the stuff. So, I then use a baby q-tip dipped in a little peroxide to wipe it out of her outer ear. It works well when I'm on top of it and do it a least once per week. A nurse suggested the first part with the aspirator adn the mixture.
First of all...NEVER stick anything into your child's ear. By doing this you risk perforating the eardrum and/or introducing foreign bodies into the ear that could lead to an ear infection. You have a couple of options. 1)You can go to your child's pediatrician who can perform a lavage or basically wash out the wax. He/She can also prescribe some ear drops to help loosen up the wax and help it to come out more easily on it's own. 2) You can try to soften up the wax by using OTC ear drops such as Debrox. If you try to loosen it up with water, you will need to make sure to thoroughly clear tht water out, which can be very difficult, but if left in there can also cause an ear infection. I saw some people recommending the use of hydrogen peroxide but I would double check with the pediatrician on this. I am a nursing student and whenever we use hydrogen peroxide, we are instructed to make a 50/50 solution of it with water and ALWAYS wipe the area with water after as hydrogen peroxide is very caustic to the skin. I hope this helps.
Have him checked for parasites. You can "candle" the ear to remove wax. DIY (ear candles available at health food stores) or have a practitioner do it.
Dr. A. Dunev
If it must be removed then one of the things we've done for my husband is lay him on his side with the ear you want to remove the wax from facing up, put a few drops (fill the ear) of hydrogen peroxide in and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Then have him turn over to the other side, put a towel down and let it drain. I've never done this to my kids so I would ask a Dr. first just to be sure it is safe.
M.
Our ped told us to put debrox drops in the ears at night and then put in cotton balls to hold the drops in over night. Do this for 7 days straight. That will soften the wax and it will drain out. This is the only thing that has worked on my son (we even had then try to remove it in the ped office which was a nightmare). If this didn't work we were going to have to go to an ENT to have them remove it.
