List of Private providers for ear wax removal
Blocked Ears Wax Patient Information
How to use olive oil ear drops:
- Warm the drops before using them (placing the small bottle in your pocket for 10 minutes will warm them to your body temperature).
- Lay on your side with your affected ear facing the ceiling.
- Pull the outer ear gently backwards and upwards, to straighten your ear canal.
- Put 2 or 3 drops of olive oil into your affected ear, then gently massage your ear.
- Stay like this for 5-10 minutes, to allow the drops to soak into the earwax.
- Wipe away any excess oil. Do not plug your ear with cotton wool, as this will absorb the oil.
Your hearing problem may become slightly worse temporarily after you start to use olive oil, so it is better to treat one ear at a time if both of your ears are blocked.
If you get a repeated build-up of wax you can continue to use olive oil drops twice a week. This will help keep the wax soft and encourage the natural process of wax expulsion.
If you feel the olive oil is not working, you may prefer to use sodium bicarbonate 5% ear drops. You can buy these from most pharmacies and use them in the same way. There are also wax softening sprays available to buy from most pharmacies; these can be easy to use, because you don’t need to lay down to put them into your ear.
In most cases, after 14 days the wax will have softened enough for it to come out. If your ear hasn’t cleared after this time, please contact your GP surgery for further advice. Not all GP practices remove earwax. If you want to have your ears unblocked through micro-suction you might have to pay privately.