Hearing loss due to wax in ears

FLMary
Following up on your comment about using mineral oil in your ears periodically does that mean that you can use your hearing aids with oily ears? Before my aids were essential I would wait a day and then syringe out my ears before using the aids. Now I need them all the time.

@barbarat

Regarding the use of mineral oil, I generally put a couple of drops in before
going to bed, making sure I keep my head tilted for a minute so it goes into the canal. I have done it during the day prior to inserting the aids but wipe out any excess in the outer ear. The mineral oil gets absorbed like a moisturizer and doesn’t clog up my mold or tubing.

The key is not to use a lot and try to get it mainly into the canal. My ENT said my ears are very dry but cautioned against using the oil too much. So I may go a week before using it again. I also wipe down the dropper with alcohol after using it because I know I am touching the ear trying to aim for the canal.

FL Mary

Thanks, FLMary very helpful! I also get itchy ears so I think other than the wax issue it should help.

For 3-4 months now I have been using a rubber bulb ear syringe to insert a few drops of mineral oil each evening into each ear canal before going to bed. The procedure has really changed my social life. I am now able to hear almost all conversations and to participate in group discussions without problems. I make a point of doing this just before going to bed at night and I have been very happy with the outcome. Before starting this routine I would often find myself reluctant to engage in social life for fear that I would misunderstand what was being said. I did not have this same experience when I used my hearing aids. I would often hear only bits and pieces of conversations. I wish that the ENT doctors I had been seeing over several years had recommended trying the old fashioned mineral oil procedure before I went through years of ENT doctor visits, ear cleaning visits, recommendations to undergo ear canal surgery. I certainly don't want to claim that this will work for everyone, but I certainly wish I had been encouraged to try this simple, low cost practice before I spent thousands of dollars on ENT visits. I am particularly glad that I did not agree to ear surgery.

@djangomay2
I am happy that you resolved the problem on your own. Forty plus years ago, my aunt couldn't hear out of one ear and was prescribed and purchased a hearing aid. She could hear no better. She did have impacted wax which fell out naturally, apparently a large enough clump to notice.

I am surprised the ENTs could not detect the impacted wax with the otoscope, if that is what it was. It sounds like you dissolved the wax. My ENT advised me not to over use it so I only do use it occasionally when I feel the need...I have extremely dry ears. My profound bilateral hearing loss does improve with the occasional use of mineral oil. Like anything, I even skip a facial moisturizer from time to time to kind of let the natural hydration occur.

You may not need to use it every night and eventually feel comfortable enough to skip a night or two. Mineral oil acts like a moisturizer so I am assuming no damage is being done. Anyway, good for you and I can understand the frustration you must feel after visiting the doctors ....I can't imagine what surgery anyone was proposing.

FL Mary

Here's a link below to the variety of surgeries used to correct hearing loss. One of the otolarygology specialists I consulted for my hearing issues was a surgeon. Naturally his first choice was surgery. The other specialists mentioned surgery as an option, but mostly relied on medication to address my problems. I am glad that I did not opt for surgery, since my once a day application of mineral oil (definitely an old-fashioned approach) seems to have resolved the problem pretty well. I hope to be able to continue with this. I spent 4-5 years bouncing around from ENT doctor to ENT doctor in four different states to address my hearing loss. Only one of the specialists I consulted even mentioned the mineral oil solution. I was prescribed a variety of antibiotic drops and periodic ear cleanings to correct my hearing problems. This approach worked for a little while, but the drops irritated my ear canals, which are very narrow (the technical term is stenotic canals). So I wound up giving up the drops after a few days of application. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the mineral oil will continue to do the job. It may be old fashioned but it seems to work.

@djangomay2

I am familiar with CIs and Bone conduction implants ( was evaluated for that but my loss is not conductive.) and other surgeries.
Having progressive hearing loss for 40 plus years,( I can almost build my own hearing aids loll ) I decided to learn everything I could .
I remember when my loss was first confirmed those many years ago, I asked if surgery was an option. I was hoping but no doctor ever mentioned the possibility and this was before digital hearing aids and CIs were not the norm.

However, like you, if I were new to hearing loss today, I wouldn't consider surgery as a first option. We are too health savy today and know enough to question health providers.

I love old fashioned remedies. I use brown rice flour for facial exfoliation a couple of times a week...an long time Asian beauty regimen. And my ENT doctor who retired last year was a big believer in trying natural remedies first and clued me in to mineral oil.
He was never to quick to prescribe antibiotics for some ear infections I had over the years.

Anyway, good conversation and I love the fact that you did your homework. I'm the type that researches the best of anything before I buy it or use it.

FL Mary

This sounds like a very good idea...I have tintinitus in both ears and did the drops before my ear exam and the examiner said my ears were perfctly clear and tested me and recommended aids (which she was selling) for both ears even tho' only my rt ear showed 70% loss and my lft ear 20% loss. It didn't seem logical and was VERY expensive...so I did nothing..But my rt ear does feel swollen and achy sometimes as does the lft one betimes so I am going to try mineral oil for a bit and see what happens. An ENT neurologist did an MRI and I was ok. So what's to lose except an oily ear?

70% loss is not insignificant. Duel hearing aids are recommended even if one ear seems to hear well. I am not sure of your age, but I have been told that the brain begins to lose its ability to process sounds and getting hearing aids after a prolonged period of deafness does not work as well as getting hearing aids early on. (Just my opinion)

@decabea and @fromthehill

You are right @decabea and 70% is a significant hearing loss that should be addressed as soon as possible. Even a 20% loss can worsen over time. We need to keep what hair cells we have left stimulated. Hair cells don’t regenerate once they die .

I have about 20% hearing left in my right ear and had the option of using a receiver in that ear to transfer sounds to my right better ear…that aid is called a Cros or BiCross. That option means I have essentially given up on hearing in that ear. I have both the receiver and a hearing aid for my left ear because I want to keep as much hearing in that ear as possible. Meaning I use them interchangeably. At home I wear the left aid to keep the cells stimulated by noise and when I am out I use the receiver. I always wear the right aid but hear equally in the left with either the receiver or aid. The receiver is more comfortable actually for me.

Untreated hearing loss will generally worsen over time and may be so subtle you won’t realize what you are missing. It usually takes someone else to let you know that you may need aids.

Yes, aids can be expensive and that’s another whole topic but hearing aids and Cochlear Implants are life changing. That’s an expense I wouldn’t think twice about.

FL Mary