Get your ears cleaned out: before and after

[Carl-Richard]

I had some severely decent earwax buildup from sleeping with earplugs for over 5 years and not getting my ears emptied out. It was pretty bad because I often had trouble hearing what people were saying if there was a lot of environmental noise. And music always sounded a bit muffled (not to mention one ear more than the other), so that alone was a good reason to get them cleaned out.

I initially bought some DIY ear cleaning device from Temu which broke after 3 days — who would have thought that could happen? — and I made some decent progress in cleaning (but I don't recommend it because you can easily hurt yourself), but I eventually got them cleaned out by a doctor (my mom lol) by flushing them. It only took 10 minutes from entering the office and doctor preparing everything and removing all of it. Here is the before and after hearing test using an app on my phone:

Before:

After:

(It seems like I registered O dB according to the chart at 2000 Hz on the after test. Maybe I hallucinated that one, or maybe not).

I highly recommend it. Music is so amazing now and I can actually hear people talking to me and things outside when walking.

Edited Tuesday at 09:33 PM by Carl-Richard

[Natasha Tori Maru]

@Carl-Richard

Do you know what the doctors used in the procedure?

I always just pour hydrogen peroxide in & wait

THE SATISFYING SIZZLE

[Sugarcoat]

I wanna do this. I use q tips sometimes because it feels good but I’ve heard it’s not good so I wonder if I have something built up in my ears

[Jannes]

Isnt a bit of earwax also protective. 

My logic is, I dont have hearing problems right now, so whatever restriction my current level of earwax gives me I can tolerate and use as protection until I actually experience hearing loss and then I can take the wax out and get a long second chance. 

I am sure science would agree with me here. 

[samijiben]

Funny you mention it, I got motherfucking otitis externa AND otitis media. I got my shit flushed thrice by the bigbootynurse. One time the earwax-infested water spilled on her scrubs, lol, fucking gross.

Think it came from my beats fits earbuds... tho only my left ear is fucked. Got prescribed amoxycillyn and oflaxacin, still can't hear shit, hurts, sensitive to touch.

Ear problems suck, keep em clean!

[Carl-Richard]

14 hours ago, Natasha Tori Maru said:

@Carl-Richard

Do you know what the doctors used in the procedure?

I always just pour hydrogen peroxide in & wait

THE SATISFYING SIZZLE

A type of metal water pistol.

 

13 hours ago, Sugarcoat said:

I wanna do this. I use q tips sometimes because it feels good but I’ve heard it’s not good so I wonder if I have something built up in my ears

You could probably use them relatively successfully if you started using them when your ears were already pretty clean and you use them regularly. I think it becomes problematic if you use them to clean a blocked ear.

 

13 hours ago, Jannes said:

Isnt a bit of earwax also protective. 

My logic is, I dont have hearing problems right now, so whatever restriction my current level of earwax gives me I can tolerate and use as protection until I actually experience hearing loss and then I can take the wax out and get a long second chance. 

I am sure science would agree with me here. 

When I looked inside myself there were loads of black and compressed wax, pressed tightly against my eardrum.

[Schizophonia]

I never “cleaned” my ears ; never had any otitis or earwax

[Princess Arabia]

On 7/16/2025 at 3:21 AM, Sugarcoat said:

I wanna do this. I use q tips sometimes because it feels good but I’ve heard it’s not good so I wonder if I have something built up in my ears

Bad move. Q-tips just pushes the wax down even further.

[Leo Gura]

They sell these ear cameras:

https://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Otoscope-Featured-Portable-Compatible/dp/B08MXHSBVX

https://www.amazon.com/AnyScope-Digital-Otoscope-Compatible-Android/dp/B0DT5RMVXK

It's called an Otoscope.

You should clean your ears with q-tips before inserting ear-plugs so wax doesn't get pushed in.

Edited yesterday at 05:44 AM by Leo Gura

[AION]

Some dirt is ok since it will protect your ears from being damaged. 

[Sugarcoat]

10 hours ago, Princess Arabia said:

Bad move. Q-tips just pushes the wax down even further.

I wonder if I have some stuck…

[Vibes]

The best instrument to clean your ears is your pinkie finger