Clogged Ear

Updated on February 03, 2008
K.W. asks from Las Vegas, NV
21 answers

What do i do for a clogged ear. We cleaned out the ear about a week ago and every sense then it has been clogged and she can hear out of her ear but the sounds are muffled. She told me that it feels like she went swimming and she has water in her ear

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T.N.

answers from Portland on

I have had this problem as had my grandson. Suphedrine/Children's Sudafed always does the trick!

Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful
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M.D.

answers from Las Vegas on

After a full week, I'd probably recommend having her see a doctor. It may be nothing, but you know the old saying...better safe than sorry.

1 mom found this helpful

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A.W.

answers from Boise on

Dear K.,
I once had a feeling that I had swishing water in my ear. I went to the doctor and it was a middle ear infection. I would get her checked.
A. W.

1 mom found this helpful
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T.S.

answers from Anchorage on

try an ear irrigation kit, you can buy them at the grocery store, they work pretty well! Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful
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T.M.

answers from Salt Lake City on

If you believe that it is wax build up, you can try hydrogen peroxide. My mom used to clean out my ears with hydrogen peroxide when I was little. Have your daughter lay on a pillow on the floor. Dump a cap full into her ear, and it should start bubbling alot. When she notices that the bubbling sounds has stopped to significantly slowed, dump out her ear on a paper towel. Repeat if necessary.
Hope that helps.
Trudi

1 mom found this helpful
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E.L.

answers from Spokane on

If the clog was caused by an infection, try warming olive oil and pure tea tree oil(you can get it at any health food store) take a dropper and put about three drops in her ear, massage the outside of the ear to be sure it gets in. dab the rest out with a cotton ball, not a Q-tip. Tea tree oil is a natural antiseptic, Has cured ear infections in my family very effectively.

If it was caused by cleaning the ear, try the sme procedure over, and over again to see if the heat will relieve the build up. Antibiotics can cause more problems. and can be very dangerous in children. I personally will not put my children on antibiotics until I have exhausted every other natural remedy. This remedy has been very effective for my family.

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T.W.

answers from Seattle on

oh dear, I just went through over 6 months of "glue ear" with my 5 year old son. He was partially deaf and that was really a problem for us. Eventually he got better, thank God, before I hit my mental deadline for "tubes" surgery, sometohing I really don't believe in. I tried 3 kinds of antibiotics, probably 10 different naturapathic things and decongestants. Since it is early in the game, decongestant might help you. In the end, a very strong antibiotic seemed to kick the problem, for he had developed another ear infection. Please persevere and try to hold off any kind of tube surgery. They don't always work and it is very intrusive to cut a hold in the eardrum. ew. Good luck

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M.K.

answers from Portland on

Have you tried pouring paroxide in her ear and letting it sit for a minute or so. That usually works. Just don't let it sit for a long period of time. Good luck.

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V.H.

answers from Las Vegas on

Don't use q tips in the ear. My mom cleaned my ears with q tips and one day I woke up with the worst ear pain! The night before earwax had gotten puched up against my ear drum, after they irigated my ear with perozide at the hospital I could hear better than I had in years. the wax had just been pushed back in my ear over and over until it puched up against my eardrum. Got to a dr they will clean her ear out.

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D.M.

answers from Salt Lake City on

Hello,
There are 2 things I tried..1st there is some OTC medicine found at Wal-Mart...or any pharmacy. The brand is Similacin and called Swimmer's ear, it worked well, but my duaghter complained. The next thing was to get a cottonball wet with alcohol and put it in her ear, we did it at night. It dried up the fluid and she felt much better.
She actually complained being dizzy b/c of fluid build up behind her ear drum. As soon as we did the alcohol thing it felt better...we did it for 2 nights and she felt better.
Hope that helps!
~D.

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J.D.

answers from Spokane on

Your best bet is to take her to the doctor....she needs a ear lavage....it is mostly painless, but a little scary. It is the best way to get it over with before she gets asevere infection.....J. CMA

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T.T.

answers from Salt Lake City on

The only thing that I have found that works pretty well if you can do it is peroxcide. put a little in her ear and let it bubble up. have her tip her head to the side to let it sit in there for a minute. Then tip her head the other way and clean out. This will clean it out but will feel as if it did not work for about an hour.

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J.B.

answers from Salt Lake City on

I agree with the ear candeling. However it really depends on how old she is and, if you've never had it done before I recommend going to a professional. It can look kind of scary when it is being done.

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N.O.

answers from Las Vegas on

There is an over the counter product for swimmer's ear. It's called AuriDry, there are a few others too. I don't know if it's okay for children, I've only used it on myself.

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L.Y.

answers from Cheyenne on

How did you clean out the ear last week and why did you feel the need to do so then?

How old is she?

Without knowing more I hate to suggest going to an MD or DC so they can look at the ear with an otoscope (the little thingy they stick in your ear with a light source), but I will. I would do this before you try washing the ear again.

If you used Q-tips, a BIG no no except for the outside of the ear, sometimes a small piece of cotton can be left behind in the ear canal. A piece the size of a pin head against the ear drum can cause the muffled sound.

Good luck,
Dr. L.

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Z.P.

answers from Honolulu on

How did you clean out her ears? With a Q-Tip? If you did then you might have just compacted everything. Try using a few drops of mineral oil and it should all come out, thats if it's just wax build up. If not then you might want to take her to her doctors. When I was young I had that same problem and my Doctor use to flush out my ears and it really helped. Good luck.

Z.

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A.V.

answers from Portland on

Take her to a doctor, they have a special instrument to remove built up ear wax safely.

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J.P.

answers from Provo on

Mineral Oil. Also chewing gum can loosen up whatever is in there. My daughter has had bad ears scince the day she was born. Try that. Best of luck

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M.S.

answers from Spokane on

A little bit of hydrogen peroxide should do the trick. That's what the doctor always told my mother to do when I went swimming or had water get in my ear when showering. Another thing I heard that works for cleaning out the ear is 3 drops of olive oil and then suction it out with the ear bulbs from the pharmacy....Hope this helps!

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K.V.

answers from Portland on

you might want to taker her to the pediatrician. i had an outer ear infection caused by a clogged ear about 3 weeks ago that hurt like you know what and i was taking antibiotics for it. after the antibiotics were done i had the same feeling as your daughter. everything sounded like i was under water. anyway, my doctor found that i now have a middle ear infection. there is no pain just the muffled sounds. i am now taking another round of antibiotics. and he also suggested holding my nose and trying to force a breath out of it. the counter pressure causes the fluid in your ear to move and helps with the muffled feeling. good luck!

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M.P.

answers from Portland on

TAKE HER TO THE DOCTOR! would be my first advice by I actually don't have enough information to give useable advice. My motto has always been when in doubt see an expert. If money is a problem there are county clinics that charge on a sliding scale. Calling the county health department or your doctor's or your insurance's advice nurse is also a good option.

You don't say how old she is, if she has a cold now or recently, how you cleaned out her ear, if she's ever had an ear infection or if you've had experience with an ear infection. Any of those factors might change my advice. But I can tell you that a clogged ear is nothing to mess around with.

My granddaughter has had ear infections without pain. She's 6 now.

Cleaning out the ear can damage the ear drum which could be related to the clogged ear sensation. Again, my daughter cleaned out my randdaughter's ear with a q-tip this morning and she saw the dr today for another reason and he found blood in the ear.

Water in the ear canal will dry up by itself in a matter of hours.

I've had a sensation somewhat like that when I've had a bad cold or I'm congested with allergies. My granddaughter's allergist said that allergies are just as severe in the Fall as in the Spring. Decongestents helped but mostly I just had to wait until the cold was over.

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