4 ms·

I did some searching and also asked a doctor (though not an ENT) about it and the overall response was that you should not be be overzealous about cleaning out

by isatty 5y ago

I did some searching and also asked a doctor (though not an ENT) about it and the overall response was that you should not be be overzealous about cleaning out ear wax unless it’s a medical condition.

throwanem 5y ago
There's nothing wrong with a little Debrox once a month or so. The point is just to keep the wax from building up enough to get impacted, or close enough to affect balance and hearing. I had impacted earwax once, years and years ago. They fix that with Debrox followed by irrigation, which was while not painful still perhaps the most weirdly unpleasant sensation I've ever experienced, and also made my head spin a little. Since then I've taken some care to avoid a repeat, and I suppose a nice side effect is that earbuds hold up a lot better.
- oblio 5y ago
  > The point is just to keep the wax from building up enough to get impacted, or close enough to affect balance and hearing. What if he isn't impacted in any way? What point is there in zealously cleaning something that's meant to be there? Just washing your ears in a regular fashion during a shower/bath, with your fingers (but not with long nails!) and warm water and soap is enough for most people.
  - lm28469 5y ago
    > but not with long nails! Why would you clip your nails, they're meant to be there /s There are many things that the body does that aren't useful in any ways, if you have so much earwax that it gunks your audio equipment it probably is time to think about removing a bit more of it
    - oblio 5y ago
      > Why would you clip your nails, they're meant to be there /s Nope, they're not. If we'd still be living a hunter gatherer lifestyle our nails would naturally be filed down to a manageable length without much extra fuss.
      - throwanem 5y ago
        In that case we also wouldn't be posting on HN. More broadly it seems not terribly useful to concern ourselves with how we would best live in some idealized alternate universe, instead of how we do best live in this one, where among other things we stuff singing wads of plastic in our ears all day.
  - throwanem 5y ago
    "Impacted" here means your ear canals are partially or completely blocked by accumulated wax, which can cause infection and also impairs balance and hearing. It's really quite unpleasant, and requires minor medical intervention to safely resolve. Earwax is meant to be present, sure. It is also meant to drain on its own over time through the ear canal, in order to balance production and avoid buildup. Having something stuck in your ear canal a lot of the time complicates this, because now there's nowhere for the wax to go. If the thing that's stuck in your ear is an AirPod, the wax will accumulate there too, but eventually it will be full. Now you're at risk of impaction, and also your AirPod also doesn't work well or maybe at all any more, because its sound channel is blocked too. Sure, earwax is "meant" to be present, and isn't a problem absent excess. But humans also aren't "meant" to be deliberately occluding our ear canals for hours every day. There's "meant" to be a balance between production and natural removal via the ear canal, and occluding the ear canal throws that off. If we're going to be doing that, we're wise also to think about how to deal with the problem of earwax buildup that that can cause. But you don't have to take my word for it! Cedars-Sinai [0]: > Objects placed in your ear can also lead to impacted earwax, especially if done repeatedly...Hearing aids, swimming plugs, and swim molds can have [this] effect with repeated use. > You may also increase your risk if you keep putting objects in your ear, such as a hearing aid. > [You] might be able to prevent repeated episodes. Using a topical agent once a week may help. You're right that, for most people, regular hygiene should be enough. If your AirPods are getting so full of earwax that they don't work properly any more, I think it's fair to wonder whether the "most people" standard any longer applies. [0] https://www.cedars-sinai.org/health-library/diseases-and-conditions/i/impacted-earwax.html https://www.cedars-sinai.org/health-library/diseases-and-con...

by isatty 5y ago

throwanem 5y ago

There's nothing wrong with a little Debrox once a month or so. The point is just to keep the wax from building up enough to get impacted, or close enough to affect balance and hearing. I had impacted earwax once, years and years ago. They fix that with Debrox followed by irrigation, which was while not painful still perhaps the most weirdly unpleasant sensation I've ever experienced, and also made my head spin a little. Since then I've taken some care to avoid a repeat, and I suppose a nice side effect is that earbuds hold up a lot better.

oblio 5y ago
> The point is just to keep the wax from building up enough to get impacted, or close enough to affect balance and hearing. What if he isn't impacted in any way? What point is there in zealously cleaning something that's meant to be there? Just washing your ears in a regular fashion during a shower/bath, with your fingers (but not with long nails!) and warm water and soap is enough for most people.
- lm28469 5y ago
  > but not with long nails! Why would you clip your nails, they're meant to be there /s There are many things that the body does that aren't useful in any ways, if you have so much earwax that it gunks your audio equipment it probably is time to think about removing a bit more of it
  - oblio 5y ago
    > Why would you clip your nails, they're meant to be there /s Nope, they're not. If we'd still be living a hunter gatherer lifestyle our nails would naturally be filed down to a manageable length without much extra fuss.
    - throwanem 5y ago
      In that case we also wouldn't be posting on HN. More broadly it seems not terribly useful to concern ourselves with how we would best live in some idealized alternate universe, instead of how we do best live in this one, where among other things we stuff singing wads of plastic in our ears all day.
- throwanem 5y ago
  "Impacted" here means your ear canals are partially or completely blocked by accumulated wax, which can cause infection and also impairs balance and hearing. It's really quite unpleasant, and requires minor medical intervention to safely resolve. Earwax is meant to be present, sure. It is also meant to drain on its own over time through the ear canal, in order to balance production and avoid buildup. Having something stuck in your ear canal a lot of the time complicates this, because now there's nowhere for the wax to go. If the thing that's stuck in your ear is an AirPod, the wax will accumulate there too, but eventually it will be full. Now you're at risk of impaction, and also your AirPod also doesn't work well or maybe at all any more, because its sound channel is blocked too. Sure, earwax is "meant" to be present, and isn't a problem absent excess. But humans also aren't "meant" to be deliberately occluding our ear canals for hours every day. There's "meant" to be a balance between production and natural removal via the ear canal, and occluding the ear canal throws that off. If we're going to be doing that, we're wise also to think about how to deal with the problem of earwax buildup that that can cause. But you don't have to take my word for it! Cedars-Sinai [0]: > Objects placed in your ear can also lead to impacted earwax, especially if done repeatedly...Hearing aids, swimming plugs, and swim molds can have [this] effect with repeated use. > You may also increase your risk if you keep putting objects in your ear, such as a hearing aid. > [You] might be able to prevent repeated episodes. Using a topical agent once a week may help. You're right that, for most people, regular hygiene should be enough. If your AirPods are getting so full of earwax that they don't work properly any more, I think it's fair to wonder whether the "most people" standard any longer applies. [0] https://www.cedars-sinai.org/health-library/diseases-and-conditions/i/impacted-earwax.html https://www.cedars-sinai.org/health-library/diseases-and-con...