How to Gently Dissolve Ear Wax Using Very Weak Hydrogen Peroxide (Contact Lens Cleaner)

Not a very pleasant subject to discuss, but when I get a build up of ear wax usually combined with going swimming with the kids suddenly I find I can't hear at all out of one ear at all and it makes you feel so isolated from the world that I used to try everything and anything to try to clear it up.  Almost invariably I used to end up poking something inappropriate (like a q-tip) down my ear which compacted the wax rather than sorting it out.  Somehow also I always seemed to manage to end up with both ears blocked and usually with some big work presentation the next day.

I have had my ears syringed at the doctors several times and whilst it always works, I find it painful, excruciatingly loud and I'm always worried it's going to damage my ear.  Reading comments online it seems like some people do get damaged hearing from ear syringing which doesn't surprise me.  The other main disadvantage is that I usually have to wait 2 weeks for an appointment, and I want it sorted straight away.

There are hundreds of suggestions online for how to deal with ears blocked with wax.  Everyone seems united in the fact that you shouldn't poke anything into your ear and I completely agree.  But after trying loads of these online suggestions you end up thinking "I don't want lots of suggestions, I just want one: the one that works"

So here it, the single gentle way I use to unblock my ears of wax immediately.

Instructions to gently dissolve your ear wax with Hydrogen Peroxide

DISCLAIMER: Please don't think I'm giving any medical advice here.  This is just my notes to myself for what I've found to work myself through trial and error, so I know what to try next time.  You should speak to a doctor if you need medical help, not an engineer!

You will need:

• 3% Hydrogen Peroxide (from the chemists or opticians or your bathroom already.  It's used to clean contact lenses so it's very weak and widely available)
• Tissues or toilet paper
• Some means of getting the Hydrogen Peroxide into your ear.  I have a plastic pipette which is perfect (no idea where I got it), a syringe would be good, a teaspoon would do fine too.

How to do it

1. Only do one ear at a time. Seriously, only do one ear at a time.  I know you'll be tempted, but only do one ear at a time.  The ear you treat will get worse before it gets better, so treat your worse ear first and wait until it's fully clear before starting on the less bad ear.
2. Lie on your side with the ear you're treating on the top.
3. Use the pipette/syringe/teaspoon to put a little bit of the hydrogen peroxide into your ear.  Just drop the liquid in, don't poke the pipette/syringe into your ear whatever you do.  You'll have to judge how much / little to put in yourself, but I just put in a little so you can feel it trickle down the ear canal.
4. Listen to the gentle fissing in your ear!  That's the wax dissolving.  Lovely isn't it!  [If you feel any pain at all here rinse your ear out with water and don't try it again.  You may have a cut in your ear or some other medical issue.]
5. When the fissing stops or gets significantly quieter, put the tissue over the ear and turn your head over.  Look at the liquid it's slightly yellowy.  That would usually be a horrible disgusting sight, but because your ears are so blocked up it's amazing!
6. The problem is that only a small bit of the wax has dissolved.  As I said it's very mild.  So you've got to repeat the process.  I reckon it usually clears after about 6 dissolve iterations, and I generally keep going about 10 times before I got bored and think it's time to try the other ear.