I can hear again

Today I had an appointment with an ear doctor. In Boulder, I had been a patient of the the same doctor for years, so I had never before seen an ear specialist for a buildup of ear wax. Apparently it's pretty common that, as we age, ear wax doesn't come out like it used to and can impair your hearing. That has been happening to me for a few decades now, and every few years or so my doctor would simply sit me down in a chair and hand me the ear irrigator, remind me how to do it, and close the door. She said to come get her when I thought I was done. She cleaned up anything I missed, but it took a while.

It worked pretty well, I got good at it, but a few weeks ago I noticed the telltale crinkly sound in my left ear and when I would wake up in the morning, I couldn't hear anything out of that ear. I'd wiggle the ear, pull on it, and eventually get the wax away from the eardrum, but it wasn't working all that well. Now that I am a Medicare patient and have moved away from Boulder, I called the Center for Senior Health and figured they would just do the same thing I was used to. No, they sent me to a specialist, an ear doctor. I was a little disgusted that they couldn't just let me do the work, but apparently liability issues wouldn't allow it. (Probably had some old geezer whose eardrum got punctured and didn't want a repeat.)

Of course, I googled the doctor I was scheduled to see and learned he has an "excellent" rating. So I waited for the appointment and went to see him. I walked into his office at 2:10 pm, we chatted about my ear history, he got out a cute dainty little vacuum cleaner, and whoosh! my ears were clean as a whistle, and I walked out at 2:20 pm. And I could hear just fine! It was the best doctor visit I've had in a while, and I wasn't drenched from the top of my head to my elbow, either. (I didn't always have the best aim back there in Boulder.)

Although I have heard about ear candling, I don't know anything about it, and I certainly don't want to mess with something that might actually harm my dainty little ears or my hearing. When I was in Bangkok, I recall that there were interminable little shops in the alley behind my hotel that advertised "Ear Wax Removal" along with their foot massage. I wonder what they used? I got a foot massage twice a day, I was hooked on them. But since I wasn't having any problem with my ears, I puzzled over the signs but didn't pursue it. I was sure that if I inquired about it, before long I would be fending off the practitioner.

Since I have a very international bunch of blogging buddies, it got me to wondering what other people do when (if) they can't hear because of ear wax buildup. Is it just me? I don't think I've read about this question having ever been addressed before. Anybody?
:-)