Any advice on ear cleaning?

Greymare I'm really REALLY sorry that you mistook my advice (take your mom to the doc or urgent care and don't use QTips) as an insult or an attempt to make you feel bad. My remark was not intended that way but I see how it could be interpreted that way.

As others have advised, getting an over the counter ear wax remedy may work for your mom. It NEVER works for me; I always end up having to go to my doc or to U.C.

Again, my apologies and my best to your mom and you.

Mom always used Qtips right down into the ear. Her hearing doctor says this is a no no. You are actually pushing the wax in. A Qtip should only be used where u can see was, right outside the opening. He gave Mom ear drops to soften the wax. She went back in a few days and you should have seen the wax he brought out. The over the counter works well but you have to be able to get that syring in the ear so the arm water pressure works. My DH thought just running his ear under a shower head would work. Nooooo, it has to be the syring.

My mom had ear problems for years. She went to an ENT specialist every three months to have her ears cleaned. Her doctor originally used water and syringe. For about 10 years before she died her doctor used the vacuum system. Far easier process. She also took her hearing aids to be cleaned the same day. If the coils in hearing aids are not cleaned regularly they become clogged and sound becomes distorted or diminished.

Q-tips are only for cleaning the outer ear and should never be inserted more than a fraction (if that). If there is hearing loss due to wax build up you could try some of the over the counter products that soften wax so it works it's way out naturally, a drop of peroxide or olive oil is also sometimes recommended.
But Barb is right that you should really take the problem to a doctor, they can flush out the wax with a syringe or with a special loop.

You can buy an ear syringe at CVS, it’s totally safe to use, and flush the ear yourself if she will let you. My ear got plugged with wax to the point I couldn’t hear out of it and I just used Debrox drops for 2 days to soften the wax and then flushed the ear using an ear syringe (not the bulb that comes with Debrox) & warm water and got all the wax out. CVS is the only place I’ve found the ear syringe at. They also sell these little ear wag removal tools that look like a spoon on one end, just be careful because you don’t want to insert them too far in to the ear. You can also dissolve ear wax with mineral oil, it works very well. My daughters ear was plugged pretty bad and the doctor was unable to use the loop tool to scoop it out because it hurt so bad, so she told me to put mineral oil in the ear and have her lie on her side for 20 minutes a day. I did that for a few days and then flushed the ear with the ear syringe. No wax came out because the mineral oil dissolved it all! Took her back to the doctor and she said all the wax was gone! The ear syringe is only a couple dollars at CVS. Also when I unplugged my own ear, I put a little peroxide in the water which some doctors say is a no-no because it can dry out the ear. It didn’t dry out my ear.

Here is what we did for mom at the direction of her nurse practitioner. Buy over the counter Debrox ear wax removal in a box with an eye dropper applicator. You use it in each ear following directions for a few days. Then with her laying with her head on one side use a little hydrogen peroxide in the eye dropper. It will fizz up a little and the wax may pop out. Do not use a Qtip that only pushes it pack in. There’s a little loop they sell near the ear drops that’s used to help scoop it out. BUT if it doesn’t pop out easily you shouldn’t go poking around, she should see her doctor.

I recently went to an ENT to have earwax removed. They used a vacuum device, which they claim is less likely to cause damage than flushing the ear with water (which is what they did years ago at the pediatrician's office). Even my GP likes the water flush method. (I don't.)

I now put a few drops of mineral oil in one ear once a week (alternate the ears by week)and then lie on the other side to let it work for about 15 minutes. The ENT said that hydrogen peroxide is drying, but that I could use it once a month.

Hey back off being mean to Barb.

Hydrogen peroxide in syringe. That's what we used. Worked like a charm. Have them put their head down on a table with towels.

This was recommended by Dr.

Hi Barb. You are one of my favorite people and I appreciate, so much, your checking on me after my mom's passing. Thank you.

A q-tip is NOT recommended at all. Any ENT will tell you this because it pushes the wax that is present in the ear deeper and will cause a potential infection. Instead, go to a good ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist and let them professionally remove the wax. You are introducing infection if you don't let the specialist do the task.

Years ago I had a q-tip "accident" myself when the cotton tip fell off in my ear. Of course every attempt to remove it only made things worse , so eventually I gave in and went to a walk in clinic and the doctor there used a syringe to do the job. The amount of force needed made me think he had shoved a water cannon in there and it was more than a little painful!