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Otex Ear Drops shelf life question.

Wayne C said:
I finally went to the chemist and chucked the four unopened packs I had!. Talk about buying in bulk - I’ll be getting a thick ear at this rate!. Otex still doesn’t seem to have made a difference to be honest think the olive oil has made matters worse before hand. My doctor doesn’t provide ear
Syringing service at the surgery sadly I realise some do which is great. Funnily enough I was a Nurse for 25 years and was trained to do the syringing myself on others with the machine they have. It isn’t that difficult, was also trained back in the day to use the massive chrome syringe now that did work.
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I've had all of those procedures, the big syringe thing was probably the best of the lot but I can imagine that it could cause damage too.

I've had ear wax problems since I was a teenager which is about 50 years or so I just produce loads of the stuff, I have worked in noisy environments in the past but not so much now still get wax though.

I've had the water machine thing too done by the nurse in the GP surgery but I think they've stopped doing ear wax removal now down to the pandemic.

The suction thing at the ear clinic was pretty good but the nurse there had a real hard time trying to get the wax out down to the Otex she eventually managed after one of her colleagues had a go but for a time it looked like I would have to go back for another try.

Well worth the £60 they charge IMO.
 
misterdog said:
Yet a simple regime in the shower every day prevents the problem from occurring in the first place.

As a cabinet maker the wood dust used to mix with the ear wax forming a 'concrete' plug, taking days of discomfort to remove.
Since adopting the shower regime I have not had a wax problem for 15 y-ears..

The other thing I do is use a hair dryer to gently dry the water that remains in the ear canal after showering along with in-between toes and other areas.
Warmth and moisture is the ideal breeding ground for things that you don't wish for.
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Nurse advised me to do that years ago and I did every time I had a shower
Unfortunately didn't work for the last episode
 
misterdog said:
Yet a simple regime in the shower every day prevents the problem from occurring in the first place.

As a cabinet maker the wood dust used to mix with the ear wax forming a 'concrete' plug, taking days of discomfort to remove.
Since adopting the shower regime I have not had a wax problem for 15 y-ears..

The other thing I do is use a hair dryer to gently dry the water that remains in the ear canal after showering along with in-between toes and other areas.
Warmth and moisture is the ideal breeding ground for things that you don't wish for.
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Makes things worse for me. If I get water in my ear, I can go deaf for days. It just won't come out. I always dry the outer part of my ear canal with a bit of tissue, after showering, otherwise the water just gets deeper in and barricades itself behind a wall of wax. As ever, what works for one person may not be a universal solution.
 
Sue Pertwee-Tyr said:
Makes things worse for me. If I get water in my ear, I can go deaf for days. It just won't come out. I always dry the outer part of my ear canal with a bit of tissue, after showering, otherwise the water just gets deeper in and barricades itself behind a wall of wax. As ever, what works for one person may not be a universal solution.
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Aye there's no way I'd put water in my ears.
 
If I get a wax build up I soften it first with drops of olive oil over several days, then use a plant spray/mister filled with warm water and a tiny drop pf liquid soap, with the nozzle set to a fine jet, then gently squirt it in my ear. It's amazing the crud that comes out.
 
I have a long term left ear problem which results in everything from temporary deafness, vertigo, tinnitus, feeling 'fluish' and feeling like the ear is 'full'. Subjected to pub concert levels of noise it simply gives up and runs into distortion and howling, much like a speaker cone with a detached surround, or similar.

I too haven't swum since the pandemic struck, but when I did, I had to resort to 'Swimseal' drops, which, as I recall, are a Silicone based product which stops the pool water from 'wetting' the ear, and allows water to drain out. Whatever... they work.

Frequent requests for a Doc to have a look always result in a declaration that my ear is clear, my ear drum 'AOK' and no sign of anything wrong beyond the drum. But then again I was told the same about the other ear for years until I finally persuaded a lump of wax roughly on a par with half of a red lentil to exit.

For the left ear, the only thing which ever provided any relief, was 'Cerumol' Ear Drops. As I recall they contained things like oil of cloves and other known pain relievers and solvents. They never did me any detectable harm, and a lot of good. Sadly, these days, along with anything which might conceivably work, they are no longer available over the counter except in much modified and basically useless form.
 
Old wooden matchstick, used to use an old hairgrip but lost it. Seem to be losing a lot of stuff lately.
 
Well I used the Otex for a few days - no improvement in my left ear, then on to Olive Oil drops for a week and saw my GP who said your left ear had soft wax in it and to continue with the drops. With it being close to Christmas I was feeling a bit down thinking that I’d be having to listen to conversations like I’ve got numerous pairs of socks on top of my lugs so I decided to pay to go to Specsavers to have them done. Went there at the weekend and the chap had a look inside and said he couldn’t see the ear drum at all but the wax was soft and would come out without event. Signed an IPad and then had the vacuum that They do. After around two minutes of this the chap said the wax is gone!, but you guessed it my hearing was exactly the same as prior to syringing!!.
He looked into my right ear and then left and said your eardrum looks dull whatever that means and said I’d more than likely have a middle ear infection that was causing the tinnitus / lack of hearing and fullness in the ear.
Now three days into a course of Amoxicillin and so far no difference. As a person who likes his hifi like we all do on here I’m getting a bit worried by it. Will be on antibiotics till Christmas Day so no beer for me!.
The GP surgery don’t do syringing and prescribed the antibiotics on the phone, the chap at spec savers thinks the wax was pressed up against the ear drum and that may have promoted infection distal to the eardrum but I don’t see that myself, I’ve tried all the ear popping / chewing gum yawning and there is no change at all.
 
mansr said:
It's OK to drink alcohol while taking Amoxicillin: https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/amoxicillin/
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At least that’s something I guess although the pharmacist said to my girlfriend “tell him to not drink any beer whilst on these as it may stop them being as effective”, I fancied a pint of Guinness today as well but my partner was giving me an ear bashing!!. So caved in and passed it by!. “You know what the pharmacy said!!, you could end up deaf and all your thinking about is a pint of Stout!!”.
 
Wayne C said:
Well I used the Otex for a few days - no improvement in my left ear, then on to Olive Oil drops for a week and saw my GP who said your left ear had soft wax in it and to continue with the drops. With it being close to Christmas I was feeling a bit down thinking that I’d be having to listen to conversations like I’ve got numerous pairs of socks on top of my lugs so I decided to pay to go to Specsavers to have them done. Went there at the weekend and the chap had a look inside and said he couldn’t see the ear drum at all but the wax was soft and would come out without event. Signed an IPad and then had the vacuum that They do. After around two minutes of this the chap said the wax is gone!, but you guessed it my hearing was exactly the same as prior to syringing!!.
He looked into my right ear and then left and said your eardrum looks dull whatever that means and said I’d more than likely have a middle ear infection that was causing the tinnitus / lack of hearing and fullness in the ear.
Now three days into a course of Amoxicillin and so far no difference. As a person who likes his hifi like we all do on here I’m getting a bit worried by it. Will be on antibiotics till Christmas Day so no beer for me!.
The GP surgery don’t do syringing and prescribed the antibiotics on the phone, the chap at spec savers thinks the wax was pressed up against the ear drum and that may have promoted infection distal to the eardrum but I don’t see that myself, I’ve tried all the ear popping / chewing gum yawning and there is no change at all.
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3 days is not long enough , normally a course is longer than that. Finish the course and let things settle down. Hopefully things will improve ..If not get in touch with medics
 
Wayne C said:
He looked into my right ear and then left and said your eardrum looks dull whatever that means and said I’d more than likely have a middle ear infection that was causing the tinnitus / lack of hearing and fullness in the ear.
Now three days into a course of Amoxicillin and so far no difference. As a person who likes his hifi like we all do on here I’m getting a bit worried by it. Will be on antibiotics till Christmas Day so no beer for me!.
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Stick with the ABs for the full course !!

I got a middle ear infection 38 years ago - no medication prescribed at the time, ear has been partially fooked ever since :mad:

Hoping the best for you !!!
 
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