How to rinse your ear at home

Ear washing is a rather complicated procedure, which, if improperly performed, can lead to serious consequences. Doing washing yourself at home is possible only if you saw how the doctor does it. Let's talk about the process in more detail - in what cases ear washing is shown and how to implement it.

Indications for washing the ears

1. Ear washing is prescribed by the otolaryngologist for otitis media, when the ear canals are filled with pus. In this case, you need to observe once how the doctor does the procedure, and then repeat it at home on his own. Pay attention to the intensity of the stream poured into the ear. The stream should be powerful enough to wash the pus, but at the same time moderate so as not to damage the septum. When the doctor tilts your head to pour the solution from your ear, look at what angle he does it. Also pay attention to the direction in which he pulls the lobe and auricle. Ask a specialist all your questions.
2. Another indication for ear washing is sulfur plugs. They can occur in young or old people, their education does not depend on the cleanliness of a person. On the contrary, the frequent and incorrect use of cotton buds can lead to the fact that you stick the sulfur deeper into the ear, and also condense it. People working at dusty jobs are also at risk - their sulfur plugs are formed much more often. Ears can be covered with gray and those who wear a hearing aid. How to understand that you have sulfur plugs? If you feel stuffy in the ear, if you have difficulty hearing, if you have headaches and tinnitus, this is a real reason to consult a specialist and, if necessary, to wash your ears.
3. Ear washing can be a salvation when foreign objects get into the ear canals. In this case, do not engage in amateur activity. Wrong actions can drive a foreign object even deeper. In this case, it is better to immediately seek medical help.

Ear Washing Technique

Remember that you can’t rinse your ears without a doctor’s recommendation, for many ENT diseases this procedure is strictly contraindicated and can lead to serious consequences, up to deafness. But, if after the examination and the diagnosis of the doctor you were prescribed a rinse, you can do it yourself at home. Here is a detailed description of this technique.

Preparation and softening
Sulfur cork must be preliminarily softened and prepared. To do this, several days before the procedure, you need to instill a special solution in the ear. You can buy it at a pharmacy or use regular vegetable oil instead. Also suitable is liquid petroleum jelly or oil mixed in half with hydrogen peroxide.

Remember that the liquid you instill must be moderately warm. To do this, you can hold it for several minutes in your hands or simply lower it into hot water. Drip the selected emollient into the ear twice a day - morning and evening. After three days, you can proceed to the next stage - washing.

Ear washing
For this procedure, we need a 20 mg syringe without a needle or a small rubber bulb to pour the solution into the ear. We also need to choose a solution with which you can rinse the ear canals. Special medical solutions with urea are most optimal, they can be bought at a pharmacy. You can also use hydrogen peroxide, oil and glycerin, mixed in equal parts.If they are not at hand, you can use the means at hand - half a teaspoon of soda and the same amount of salt per glass of water. During the procedure, liquid will pour, so a wide capacity is needed - a bowl or basin.

We collect water in a pear or syringe, about 15 ml, and inject it with a sufficiently strong stream into the ear. The head should be tilted so that the treated ear is up. Keep your ear in this position for about 5-7 minutes, while the drugs act on the inner surface of the ear canal. After the designated time has elapsed, lower your ear so that all the liquid spills out. Then repeat the procedure with plain warm water, but this time do not hold your ear in a raised state. Pour in water so that it flows immediately. This is done in order to wash all residual sulfur or pus.

Final stage
After washing, you need to dry the ear passages well. To do this, you can treat them with cotton buds. There are ultraviolet lamps for heating, which can be used to dry the ear. At home, you can use a hairdryer for these purposes. However, make sure that the air stream is warm and not cold or hot.

After washing the ear, you can’t go outside for several hours, and in case of urgent need it is better to wear a hat. After completing the washing procedure, you can drop in the ears drops that were prescribed by your doctor (for otitis media).

Ear washing in a child

It is not easy for small patients to rinse, because they cannot sit still. For this procedure, at least two people will be needed, the second is needed to fix the baby. An adult puts a child on his knees and clamps his legs with his feet. One hand holds the child’s hands firmly, and the second - fixes the head in a certain position. Such measures are simply necessary, because if the baby twitches during the procedure, even a non-sharp tip of the syringe can damage the septum.

For young children, the same formulations are used during ear washing, with the exception of the concentration and dose of the infused fluid. Babies in the first years of life are often prescribed a solution of furatsilina.

Folk remedies for washing the ears

There are decades-old homemade recipes that also help clean your ears. Instead of peroxide, you can rinse your ears with diluted onion juice. To do this, grate onions or grind in a blender, meat grinder. Using gauze, squeeze out fresh juice and dilute it in half with water. Then instill in the ears 5-6 drops of the prepared product. Onions copes well with bacteria and germs, which in case of otitis media affect the auditory canal.

To soften the sulfuric cork, you can make compresses from camphor oil and garlic. Grind a couple of cloves of garlic and squeeze the juice from the pulp. Add a few drops of camphor oil to the juice and heat the mixture in a water bath. Then moisten a small tourniquet in the prepared composition and place in the ear. After a while you will feel a slight burning sensation - this is the effect of garlic. Camphor oil perfectly softens and warms the ear, and garlic has a pronounced bactericidal property.

Another popular recipe for softening the ear plug is onion baked with caraway seeds. To do this, cut the onion in half, sprinkle the middle with caraway seeds and again fold the two halves together. Then wrap the onion in foil and bake it in the oven. When the onion cools down, juice must be squeezed out of it. Place this juice in your ears several times a day.

Ear plug prevention

Ear plugs are a rather unpleasant phenomenon that brings a lot of discomfort. In order not to bring the ears to such a state, all hygiene measures must be prematurely observed.

From time to time, it is necessary to rinse the ears in the manner described above in order to wash the sulfur before the ear plugs form in the ears.Washings too frequent are also contraindicated. It is best to rinse your ears once a month. To do this, you can use the shower - a directed stream cleans the ear passages from small residual sulfur. After this procedure, wipe the ear canals with cotton flagella - the softened sulfur residues easily remain on the cotton wool.

It is not worth using the ear sticks too intensively, they are intended only for external cleansing of the ear. If water gets into your ears while swimming in the pool or the sea, be sure to dry the ear canals. And as a preventive measure against the formation of sulfur plugs, you can instill several drops of oil mixed with hydrogen peroxide in your ears every few months.

Following these simple rules of hygiene and health will help you forget what sulfur plugs are and how to deal with them.

Video: how to rinse your ears at home