How do I go about draining them, TWW? I blew a hair dryer into them for like 8 minutes....it didn't do any good. Also, I put some alcohol drops into my ear and lay on my side to give the alcohol a chance to work in and permeate...this did next to nothing. It's really annoying, I can't hear for shit.

(The weird thing is, for most of my life I've been taking baths where I submerged my head under water, and the water has always drained out naturally. It's only recently that the water has started staying in my ears. So I guess I have to stop submerging my fucking head in warm water, which is a shame, as it's quite a pleasure, the climactic experience of any bath. But this is beside the point.) So please, TWW, what are your folk remedies for getting water out of ears?

Also, Google is surprising useless with regard this problem. All I get are ask.com-like results like "Having water in you're ears is painful and dangerous. The best way to drain the water out is to tilt you're head and pull on you're ear."

4/12/2014 5:24:27 PM

twist up a cotton ball to make a long skinny sort of thing and then shove it in

4/12/2014 5:28:12 PM

4/12/2014 6:27:52 PM

Jump onto the bed with your water-filled ear facing down, kinda like you were going to shoulder slam your mattress. It should be hard enough that if you did it on a surface other than a mattress, it'd feel like you could dislocate your shoulder.
Do that 2-3 times and the water should come out.

Edit: Basically do this and make sure the ear is facing down


[Edited on April 12, 2014 at 6:54 PM. Reason : ]

4/12/2014 6:52:43 PM

4/12/2014 7:02:58 PM

They make drops for this just go to a drug store

4/12/2014 7:03:23 PM

i make it myself (well did back when i swam more), just mix half vinegar and half rubbing alcohol and it will dry up the water

4/12/2014 7:48:37 PM

what's the point of the vinegar? all you should need is alcohol to dissipate the water. everclear or moonshine would work well.

4/12/2014 7:55:44 PM

Put some soapy water in your ear to break the surface tension. It'll come out then

4/12/2014 8:25:11 PM

^^ the vinegar kills the bacteria that causes swimmers ear if any water is still in there, the alcohol apparently doesn't treat that. that's just what i was taught when i swam and what I've always done, if its just water from a shower then i guess the vinegar wouldn't be necessary.

4/12/2014 8:51:08 PM

could be trapped by wax you can't get to. if the above suggestions don't work, try an ear cleaning kit as well.

4/12/2014 10:44:34 PM

Just don't bring a plane down, Kramer.

4/12/2014 11:39:26 PM

I tried all the advice proffered in this thread. I tried the cotton ball thing, and store ear-drops (I'd already tried store ear-drops), and this shit

Quote :

" "

(which hurt a lot more than I expected, I only did it once) and just now I finished flushing my ear with an ear wax removal kit. And my ear is still clogged with water!

Thank you all good people for your advice, but god damned son of a bitch, none of it worked. Maybe I have an epic buildup of wax that's going to require concentrated sulfuric acid or something, I dunno. I'm going to the freaking doctor on Monday.

This really isn't cool, how suddenly my body is liable to all these snags and hiccups. Getting old sucks.

4/13/2014 12:10:17 AM

I once had such a large wax build up I had to go to the doctor.

They had this massive water gun and blasted the wax out. It was really gross.

Maybe you have a bug in there.

4/13/2014 9:47:20 AM

Hydrogen peroxide?

Bubbles and feels pretty good too.

4/13/2014 10:01:40 AM

if you've done even a couple of these things and it hasn't worked, and it's already been a day, your ear canals are probably irritated and swollen just enough to keep the moisture from evaporating correctly.

Go to the doctor, good sir. Your regular Dr (if you have one anymore) will probably work you in if you just walk in.
ER if they can't.
Good to call first to save you some frustration.

4/13/2014 10:29:02 AM

Did you try this? It works.
Good luck man

Quote :

"i make it myself (well did back when i swam more), just mix half vinegar and half rubbing alcohol and it will dry up the water"

4/13/2014 11:51:15 AM

Not discounting these recommendations, but I'd be pretty careful about putting any more liquids into your ear at all.

4/13/2014 12:50:12 PM

^
a very good point...I don't plan to. actually, I poured in a second dose of ear-declogger yesterday, and now I just have ear-declogger sloshing around in my ears. going to the doctor tomorrow.

^^
thank you...I think this is a pretty epic cloggage, though. and I'm hesitant to pour any more chemicals into the cauldron of my eardrums.


[Edited on April 13, 2014 at 1:19 PM. Reason : eroig]

4/13/2014 1:13:45 PM

It's wax. The doctor has to clean mine out every few years. Sucks.

4/13/2014 1:18:21 PM

"OWWW!!!"

4/13/2014 2:04:06 PM

I couldn't get the water out of my ear after swimming everyday during the summer. I tried everything, or so I thought.
I used that swimmers ear stuff, which put me on the ground from the burning feeling (it was beyond too late to use that stuff)

A few days later, pure green stuff came out. It was the nastiest stuff ever. I couldn't even walk as I was constantly getting dizzy. I used sweet oil warm, peroxide, and cotton balls.

Never again! Get it taken care of in less than 2 hours.

4/13/2014 4:58:28 PM

Quote :

"ER if they can't."

I probably don't need to tell you this but do NOT go to the ER for this. The ER is meant for EMERGENCIES, not minor annoyances. If you can't see your regular doctor, a standard urgent care or health clinic will be fine.

4/14/2014 10:36:24 AM

If you actually think it's a wax blockage, flushing your blocked ear with warm water from a baby booger sucker might clear it up. You definitely shouldn't just shoot down into your ear canal; lean the affected ear over a sink or bowl and squirt water -- as warm as you can stand -- into the ear. This will usually dislodge any blockage. If it's an infection, you're SOL though



[Edited on April 14, 2014 at 10:52 AM. Reason : .]

4/14/2014 10:52:07 AM

you have a spider in your ear

its not water, bro

4/14/2014 11:54:27 AM

please guys, i have a match tonight

4/14/2014 12:53:54 PM

So today I went to Urgent Care, and the male nurse on duty looked into my ears confirmed that I had a huge buildup of wax in each of them which was clogging them. He then proceeded to spray each ear, intermittently for about five minutes, with salvos of warm water. Eventually the wax in each ear loosened and came out.

He showed me the wax-lump from one of my ears. It was slightly longer and slightly thinner than a raisin, and had the color and rough appearance of soggy Bran Flakes.

After he had my ears unclogged, the male nurse proceeded to bend me over and savagely rape me in the ass. But it was worth it. I can hear again! For example, I can hear the clicking of my mouse! I'm hearing all these sounds that I was totally unaware of. It's pretty awesome.

The moral of this story is, umm, if you've got water in your ears that won't drip out, it probably means you've got massive clumps of wax that will require professional attention. More broadly, sometimes do-it-yourself remedies ain't gonna cut it.

Thanks for all your advice, dear friends.

4/14/2014 8:38:38 PM

This thread went down hill quickly

4/14/2014 10:31:58 PM

TIL fermat will go to the ER for anything.

4/14/2014 11:09:15 PM

I fucking told you to do this.

4/15/2014 12:18:25 AM

Are you this guy?

http://imgur.com/a/E0rcd

4/15/2014 3:49:48 PM

WTF

4/15/2014 3:53:20 PM

WTF

4/15/2014 4:10:22 PM

You're welcome

4/15/2014 4:10:47 PM

I wish I hadn't clicked on that link

but its like a car accident. I had to keep scrolling down

4/15/2014 4:37:34 PM

I swim all the time. Pools, lakes, rivers, beaches, whatever. The local lakes and rivers caused a lot of ear infections for me when I was younger. I really don't think I have any notable wax buildup, but I do wonder if I have small or oddly shaped ear tubes that hold water rather than releasing it. Alcohol drops are crucial. I make it myself with a 50/50 mix of alcohol and white vinegar. The store bought stuff is just ~99% alcohol and 1% glycerine. I can't tell whether either product works better than the other, but the store bought bottles are convenient and they're only about $2.99 for what amounts to a shit ton of uses (even though it's only about $.10 worth of alcohol.) I re-use the squirt bottles from store bought drops I bought a decade ago and just refill them as needed for a few pennies per refill.

TLDR: If you don't have it, go buy a couple bottles and refill them with homemade when they're done.

[Edited on April 15, 2014 at 4:50 PM. Reason : l]

4/15/2014 4:49:18 PM

These are the bottles I've been refilling. It's only $2.60/bottle on Amazon.

Or just refill an old Sri Racha bottle or something.

4/15/2014 5:39:56 PM

amazing how so many adults have trouble keeping their ears clean

4/15/2014 6:02:31 PM

4/15/2014 6:04:59 PM

I think my wax build up was from too much band practice at loud volumes.

4/15/2014 6:23:33 PM

Jesus Christ, dat imgur link ....

4/16/2014 9:09:03 AM

This shit happens to me every year. I love the water, but I inevitably wind up with swimmer's ear at least once. Apparently I have an abnormally shaped ear canal, even had corrective measures as a kid to try to mitigate it.

4/16/2014 10:01:36 AM

Use earplugs.

4/16/2014 10:03:28 AM

Then I can't hear shit.

Plus I'm usually drinking/drunk when I'm in a body of water, so I'm not thinking about earplugs.

4/16/2014 10:09:54 AM

Are you using drops? I just keep the bottle on my nightstand and put them in before going to sleep. It helps if you're laying on your side anyway.

4/16/2014 11:48:50 AM

Regarding the Imgur link, here's the thread with an explanation of what it ended up being: http://www.reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/233ues/crazy_ear_infection_guy_back_with_results/

It will not make you feel any better.

4/16/2014 12:05:50 PM

lolol at Førte

4/16/2014 12:18:33 PM