Syringing, Irrigation, Microsuction — What Do We Know? And How Dangerous Is Each?

[grotulon]

I've read a story recently, an olympic athlete would get a syringing done almost every other week since a young age, til she was in her 30s or so, and not a single problem until a nurse did it who was inexperienced, which leads me to believe the danger only comes from a doctor putting too much pressure on it, and if so, how does that even cause tinnitus?

Or is it simply random?

Microsuction obviously is loud, and I read that it can peak at 130 dB, and these can last for up to 5 minutes, I only had around 3 seconds done before I told him to stop, and I had an echo in that ear for two weeks.

Irrigation I've never had done, but I am wondering how safe it is compared to the other two?

It seems as though you are doomed to have to try one if you have impacted earwax, or earwax on the ear drum.

 

[Bobby B]

Why not just rinse the ear canal with soft warm , clean water on a regular basis so that you don't end up with impacted wax?

Earwax is water soluble

These procedures seem like bad solutions for problems that can be easily avoided

 

[grotulon]

Why not just rinse the ear canal with soft warm , clean water on a regular basis so that you don't end up with impacted wax?

Earwax is water soluble

These procedures seem like bad solutions for problems that can be easily avoided

Even for those large dark chunks of wax that become hardened? Seems as though you'd still need to use those super low pressure rubber squirters to rinse it out

 

[Bobby B]

Not that - the idea is to clean your ears everyday so that you don't end up with larger, harder to remove pieces

Just like cleaning your teeth

If you wait a week then good luck removing that build up with a tooth brush

That's what I do - I use a soft cup of water and after showering I rinse a few times inside the ear canal and shake my head so that most water is out - takes one minute that's it

 

[LukeYoung]

Why not just rinse the ear canal with soft warm , clean water on a regular basis so that you don't end up with impacted wax?

Earwax is water soluble

These procedures seem like bad solutions for problems that can be easily avoided

Doesn't work for everyone. Some people have really stiff wax. I myself.
But they can always manually pull it out if they aren't lazy.
Of course you need to soften it with drops first (not just water).

 

[Bobby B]

Are you saying that in 24 hours you already have new chunks of stiff wax ?

 

[Blue28]

MICROSUCTION IS VERY LOUD! It is the cause of my HL, T and H. Worst decision of my life going to see that ENT last April, who just went right ahead with the suction, no warnings of what to expect etc. It was very loud, but who thinks going for a bit of impacted wax removed is going to ruin your life?

 

[Vicki14]

@Blue28
I agree too. I had microsuction for wax in my right ear. I didn't expect this and felt it was forced upon me. Audiologist told me 'I wasn't coping too well' I actually at that point thought I was!! I asked, can this be made worse? No, he assured me.
My T pre micro suction was very manageable and I had habituated. I so regret getting it done but I just can't understand why they do this if it isn't safe? 'Professionals' say it's safe to do but I've read on here that wax has to be softened first.
The audiologist struggled to get my wax out due to my narrow ear canals, all the while, my anxiety was shooting up.
I regret having this procedure done as it has definitely made my T worse, after being assured it wouldn't!!! .
Such a horrible condition to live with!!