Did I just rupture my eardrum? If so, should I go to Urgent Care or wait for an ENT appointment

[VeryHighlander]

I have tiny ears. And lots of earwax. I have tried all sorts of remedies (not iso alcohol lol) and none work. If I don't use a qtip after a shower my ears feel sticky and spongy. That being said, this thread is making me want to throw them out. I'm probably going to need to bring some iso alcohol to pry the AirPods out of my sticky disgusting ears.

 

[Fart Master]

You would be bleeding way more if you ruptured and be in little bit of pain I believe. My guess is that you just clog your ear and maybe scratched the sides of the ear canal causing your ear to bleed. I would wait till an ENT can look down there and see what happened.

 

[Brat-Sampson]

Every ear doctor I've ever been to (potted history of ear infections and needing irrigation to clear wax) has echoed the statement that you should never put anything into your ear smaller than your elbow. This has stuck with me, and while my hearing's definitely still a little off in my right ear, I haven't had an infection for a couple of years now.

 

[RecRoulette]

Cleaning my ear out with an elephant ear washer was a godsent when I lost hearing in one ear and couldn't afford to visit a doctor. Felt extremely satisfying when it cleared up

 

[vivftp]

I have tiny ears. And lots of earwax. I have tried all sorts of remedies (not iso alcohol lol) and none work. If I don't use a qtip after a shower my ears feel sticky and spongy. That being said, this thread is making me want to throw them out. I'm probably going to need to bring some iso alcohol to pry the AirPods out of my sticky disgusting ears.

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I'm telling ya, invest in an endoscope. Just plug it into the USB on your computer and you can carefully venture into the inner depths of your ear, see anything and everything and the supplied attachments can be used to carefully scoop out ear wax.

The times I'm most grateful to have it is when something odd happens like a stray hair sometimes finds it way down there or a piece of fuzz and it winds up tickling the inside of my ears constantly. Instead of blindly trying to get it out I can go in with surgical precision, identify the problem and deal with it.

 

[Patriiick]

My Mum was an ENT medical secretary for about 25 years and she would have slapped me if she ever saw me with a q-tip in my hand.

 

[Ctrl Alt Del]

This is why they tell you not to stick qtips in your ears. People don't know when to stop with them.

Not like me. I know exactly when to stop.

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People say music can give you an eargasm. Those people clearly don't use qtips.

 

[Heroicpiglet]

I used to have hard earwax that stick to my ear wall. It brings a feeling that can be described as hearing the drum sound anytime I touch the outer ear or walking. No effort of removal from my own has been successful. But one day inspiration visits me and I decide that, instead of pull the earwax out, I try pushing it in a little to see if it would loosen up. It did! Then I proceed to pull out the most hardened earwax ever. The feeling is divine and enrapture.

 

[DongBeetle]

Don't pour things down your ear without medical supervision. If you popped your ear drum you can wait until your ENT appointment just make sure you don't get water in it

 

[Moppy]

I ruptured my eardrum pretty bad in middle school and there was consistently both pain that kind of radiated between dull and stabbing, and bleeding that was kind of around the same level as a nosebleed. As long as you're not experiencing pain or regular bleeding, I would think it's okay to wait until your appointment - just be careful with getting water in your ear.

Also, I'm not a doctor!

 

[xxracerxx]

OP really not going to update us? I see how it is.

 

[DreadfulOmen]

Get one of these for the future?

https://www.amazon.com/BEBIRD-Wireless-Otoscope-Waterproof-Endoscope/dp/B0854FPJ1P

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Products like this are pretty poor. It's basically a plastic spoon with a cheap camera app for your phone. 75% of the time the app doesn't even work. I tried one a few months ago, and the company kept emailing asking for me to leave a good rating, and they would send me another one for free. I turned down the offer, and got a refund.

 

[CrunchyFrog]

In all seriousness, I think we need to have a talk about banning knee-jerk medical advice threads like these, as they could do far more harm than good without a proper physical exam and trained medical expertise. Nervous about an upcoming procedure and need to vent? Sure. But Era is NOT the place you should go to for a first pass medical consult, especially if you think it's an emergency.

Don't put random stuff (ESPECIALLY Q-TIPS) in your ears and get yourself some OTC Debrox or other ear irrigant is common sense, but beyond that "Get an appointment with a doctor/medical professional" and "here are the resources to find free/charity clinics near you if you need them" should be the only responses to these kinds of threads.

 

[secretanchitman]

Go to urgent care to be safe.

I actually had my eardrum rupture about 2 years ago and it was painful for a while. Not my fault, apparently it's very uncommon for an adult to have it due to being sick - my eardrum did grow back and I have full hearing still!

 

[Officer Big Mac]

Go to urgent care to be safe.

I actually had my eardrum rupture about 2 years ago and it was painful for a while. Not my fault, apparently it's very uncommon for an adult to have it due to being sick - my eardrum did grow back and I have full hearing still!

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You pay a premium for that kind of immediate care. This situation hardly seems like an urgent care situation. Unless I'm needing stitches or I'm in severe pain I'm going to call my PCP first. Most times they have times built into the schedule for emergencies.

 

[secretanchitman]

You pay a premium for that kind of immediate care. This situation hardly seems like an urgent care situation. Unless I'm needing stitches or I'm in severe pain I'm going to call my PCP first. Most times they have times built into the schedule for emergencies.

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Yep I completely agree. I was very much in pain so urgent care was the best option!

In the OPs case, I always err on the side of caution but if they're not feeling any pain then no biggie.

 

[Stencil]

So. Are those endoscopic cameras to clean your ears out as dangerous as q-tips are made out to be? I really want to try one. Would I be able to remove impacted wax with one? Or is that something only doctors should do.