"I Can't HEAR You!"

Acu-Life Ear Wax Removal Syringe

"I can't HEAR you!"

This was what Sgt. Vince Carter used to say to all the Marine recruits on the TV show, "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.," which ran from 1964-1969.

Well, I had my own episode of this recently and had to go to the doctor's office to clear out my right ear. For years, I've had problems with wax buildup in my ears and while I was always able to clear my ears out myself with a Q-Tip, I wasn't so lucky this time. By the way, Q-Tip usage for wax removal is NOT recommended by doctors.

For almost an entire week, I had lost practically all of my hearing in my right ear due to the wax build-up. Yeah, GROSS, I know, but it's a fact of life. Everyone gets wax in their ears, but some people get it more than others. And for me, it's always the right ear that gets it more than the left.

Anyway, my visit to the doctor had me sitting in the exam room for 1/2 hour before the doctor came in. He did a quick 30 second exam of my two ears, made the determination that the right ear was sufficiently clogged and then went out to get a nurse to help. Together, they sprayed warm water into my ear with a high pressure syringe and in about 30 seconds, I was done. No pain, no inconvenience either. I was impressed! For those who need the technical term, it's called "removal of impacted Cerumen."

Once the water drained out of my ear (about 2 minutes later) I had "super hearing" in my right ear! Before the procedure, I could not hear any high frequencies at all. I'm not kidding. If you crinkled a cellophane candy wrapper next to my right ear, I could not hear it! Now, my right ear has better hearing than my left!

Well, the doctor recommended that I go out and buy an ear syringe of my own and to do this occasionally to keep from having to come back to see him for this problem. (Of course the doctor uses an "industrial strength" syringe, not a small one...) So I went out to my local Walgreens drugstore and paid $4.99 plus tax for an Acu-Life syringe. Of course, I immediately went home and worked on my left ear! The doctor would not do this for my left ear because he said it wasn't blocked. But I wanted to be sure I was evenly cleaned out!

This syringe is really nice! It sprays three jet streams of water into the ear canal, but not directly into the ear drum. It's safer that way. And since the tip is to be inserted so that there is a total seal, there are portal holes in the surround of the tip so that the water can exit, along with any debris.

Yes, this post is a little gross, but I wanted you all to benefit from what I had to go through. If you have problems with wax build-up, consider getting this syringe. It's really easy to do and it's not painful at all. You will need some kind of basin to catch the exiting water though. My friends at the Acoustic Guitar Forum suggest that you do this while in the shower. Good point! Less mess!