Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us
Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network
Home
Discussion Groups
General
GeneralCardiologyVisionDentistryPharmacyLaboratoryNutritionAlternative
Diseases and Disorders
AIDSAlzheimer'sArthritisAsthmaCancerBreast CancerDiabetesEpilepsyGlaucomaHepatitisHerpesLupusProstate BPHProstate CancerProstatitisSinusitisTinnitus

Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Tinnitus / November 2005

Tip: Looking for answers? Try searching our database.

Bloody Q-Tips after failed Syringing attempt by Dr for wax compactment

Thread view: 
Enable EMail Alerts  Start New Thread
Thread rating: 
bd420 - 08 Nov 2005 15:21 GMT
I went to my Dr to get my ears checked yesterday.  I had noticed a
slight elevation in what I deem as a normal db level of ringing in the
ears (I have been checked by an ENT, and as a Panic Disorder sufferer,
it seems I just 'picked' another item about myself that I couldn't
control in the attempt to bother myself, but that is a whole other
story) so I figured it was impaction, something I've had before.

Turns out my right ear was worse than my left when the Dr looked, so
she first tried some scooping instrument, and I cringed when she tried
using it in my ear, I tensed up, etc.  I felt real pain from what she
was doing, and made her stop.  At this point, they tried to syringe,
something I've also had done in the past.  After 3 syringings with
water and Hydrogen Peroxide, I became too dizzy to continue and had to
lie down, the room was spinning as the inner cochlear nerve or
something was agitated or at least disturbed.

After I came to my senses, the nurse tried 2 more times, I got dizzy
again, and it was eventually decided that I needed a PX for ear wax
drops (Zabrox?).  I asked my Dr about the pressure in my ear from the
water/HP mix, and she said that would subside, which it has to a
degree.  She also said, in the event I 'gently' turn a Q-Tip in my ear
when I get home, I might see some blood?  The nurse had also noticed
what she thought was blood during the syringing the 2nd time, which is
why I surmise she stopped and got the Dr.

At any rate, last nite, I gently used some Q-Tips, and once I felt
ANYTHING was being touched by the Q-Tip end in my ear, I stopped
probing, and simply turned the Q-Tip in a cicrular motion to see what
would be on it.  Low and behold, the sides of the Q-Tip's cotton had
fresh blood on it.  I did this enough times to get about 7 blood
samples.

Did my Dr majorly screw up when she probed my ear with the scooper, and
possible cut into my inner ears outer skin, ie the wall of my inner
ear?

I have to stress that I DON'T normally use Q-Tips at all, I seem to be
the only person outside of the fine folks in this group, that actually
believes/knows, that Q-Tips, when used too aggressively, can EASILY
push the wax back further into the canal.  I was merely using them as a
probe for the alleged blood I might find and I stopped entering the
canal at the first hint of obstruction, then I turned with my fingers
the Q-Tip as I mentioned, and I got Blood on the cotton.

I feel I have a very bad case of hard wax impaction, by that I mean,
when I press on certain areas of my outer ear with my finger, I can
'feel' discomfort and 'something' inside, something that seems hard.

Possibly the moving of this 'hard' piece of wax could also have caused
the skin in the inner ear to slightly tear and bleed???

I'm asking for input, I've saved the Q-Tip samples with the 'excessive'
amounts of blood on them, just in case my Dr did not do something
un-professionally.

My T is obviously slightly louder at the moment, I'm going to continue
to use the drops to see what happens there.

Please Advise, the blood on the Q-Tips with little probing has me
worried, but, with my Panic Disorder condition, worrying excessively or
the smallest things is one of my symptoms.

Thanks all.

bd
Elly Byrne - 08 Nov 2005 19:33 GMT
It sounds as if someone managed to nick the skin in your ear and that
is causing the blood.
Your doctor should be able to help you with the hard wax.

But several points in your post pointed to muscle tension.

>as a Panic Disorder sufferer
I imagine that would cause you to be a very tense person. This would
cause your body to tense up.

>I tensed up, etc.
Then the tension increased (it was already there but you were not
aware of it)

>I became too dizzy to continue and had to
>lie down, the room was spinning as the inner cochlear nerve or
>something was agitated or at least disturbed.
I know some people in this group will disagree violently with me.
But the dizziness and spinning here were a result of extreme muscle
tension.

http://eebee.net/TinnitusIsaPainintheNeck.shtml
Have a read of this page - and the rest of the site.
Email me from that page if you want.

Elly's Tinnitus Resources
http://eebee.net/

>I went to my Dr to get my ears checked yesterday.  I had noticed a
>slight elevation in what I deem as a normal db level of ringing in the
[quoted text clipped - 61 lines]
>
>bd
Howard N. Gutnick - 08 Nov 2005 21:37 GMT
 I went to my Dr to get my ears checked yesterday.  I had noticed a
 slight elevation in what I deem as a normal db level of ringing in the
 ears (I have been checked by an ENT, and as a Panic Disorder sufferer,
 it seems I just 'picked' another item about myself that I couldn't
 control in the attempt to bother myself, but that is a whole other
 story) so I figured it was impaction, something I've had before.

 Yes, likely.

 Turns out my right ear was worse than my left when the Dr looked, so
 she first tried some scooping instrument, and I cringed when she tried
 using it in my ear, I tensed up, etc.  I felt real pain from what she
 was doing, and made her stop.  At this point, they tried to syringe,
 something I've also had done in the past.  After 3 syringings with
 water and Hydrogen Peroxide, I became too dizzy to continue and had to
 lie down, the room was spinning as the inner cochlear nerve or
 something was agitated or at least disturbed.

 This skin is very prone to bleeding even when just touched, especially in the bony deeper portion of the ear canal. If you were tensing up and possibly moving, then use of a syringe might be required. You might have become dizzy if the water was not at body temperature. If not, it causes the fluids of the inner ear to undergo convection motion which your brain will interpret as the fact that you are spinning in space. Some people are more sensitive to temperature differences than others. I think this might be the primary cause of your dizziness which was exacerbated by your tension.

 After I came to my senses, the nurse tried 2 more times, I got dizzy
 again, and it was eventually decided that I needed a PX for ear wax
 drops (Zabrox?).  I asked my Dr about the pressure in my ear from the
 water/HP mix, and she said that would subside, which it has to a
 degree.  She also said, in the event I 'gently' turn a Q-Tip in my ear
 when I get home, I might see some blood?  The nurse had also noticed
 what she thought was blood during the syringing the 2nd time, which is
 why I surmise she stopped and got the Dr.

 At any rate, last nite, I gently used some Q-Tips, and once I felt
 ANYTHING was being touched by the Q-Tip end in my ear, I stopped
 probing, and simply turned the Q-Tip in a cicrular motion to see what
 would be on it.  Low and behold, the sides of the Q-Tip's cotton had
 fresh blood on it.  I did this enough times to get about 7 blood
 samples.

 Did my Dr majorly screw up when she probed my ear with the scooper, and
 possible cut into my inner ears outer skin, ie the wall of my inner
 ear?

 Hardly a major screw up. The ear canal is far removed from the inner ear. Your inner ear wasn't touched by her instruments.

 I have to stress that I DON'T normally use Q-Tips at all, I seem to be
 the only person outside of the fine folks in this group, that actually
 believes/knows, that Q-Tips, when used too aggressively, can EASILY
 push the wax back further into the canal.  I was merely using them as a
 probe for the alleged blood I might find and I stopped entering the
 canal at the first hint of obstruction, then I turned with my fingers
 the Q-Tip as I mentioned, and I got Blood on the cotton.

 I feel I have a very bad case of hard wax impaction, by that I mean,
 when I press on certain areas of my outer ear with my finger, I can
 'feel' discomfort and 'something' inside, something that seems hard.

 Possibly the moving of this 'hard' piece of wax could also have caused
 the skin in the inner ear to slightly tear and bleed???

 Again, this isn't possible. The ear canal and the inner ear are separated by the eardrum and the middle ear. Probing the ear canal with instruments won't cause bleeds in the inner ear.

 I'm asking for input, I've saved the Q-Tip samples with the 'excessive'
 amounts of blood on them, just in case my Dr did not do something
 un-professionally.

 She knew that she nicked you in the first place. It happens and should heal on it's own. From your description, the q-tips had some fresh blood. But you don't mention that there is bloody discharge from your ear canal. So it's likely that by testing with the q-tip all you are doing is re-irritating the nick. Stop testing with q-tips.

 My T is obviously slightly louder at the moment, I'm going to continue
 to use the drops to see what happens there.

 Please Advise, the blood on the Q-Tips with little probing has me
 worried, but, with my Panic Disorder condition, worrying excessively or
 the smallest things is one of my symptoms.

 Yes, you are worrying excessively, possibly because of your Panic Disorder.  

 HNG
bd420 - 08 Nov 2005 22:02 GMT
I am over-reacting.  There is something rather unsettling about seeing
fresh blood from your ear.  I guess it would have been nice if the Dr
would have flat out told me that she indeed nicked my skin, and there
was indeed blood that could easily be found via a Q-Tip many hours
later.

Thanks to newsgroups like these, we learn more than the Dr's tell us
;-).

Thanks again!

bd
>   I went to my Dr to get my ears checked yesterday.  I had noticed a
>   slight elevation in what I deem as a normal db level of ringing in the
[quoted text clipped - 71 lines]
>
>   HNG
Sunny - 10 Nov 2005 22:25 GMT
Concerning your dizziness:  I have read on other sites that when
irrigating the ear, your need to use blood temperature water.  Too warm
or too cold will cause severe dizziness.
fyfpoon@gmail.com - 22 Nov 2005 02:23 GMT
I used to have a lot of wax in my ear.  The way my doc treated it was
to pour a solution with part of the name -Dioxide sounding.  After a
while, the wax was dissolved and came out with the solution.

=====================================
> I went to my Dr to get my ears checked yesterday.  I had noticed a
> slight elevation in what I deem as a normal db level of ringing in the
[quoted text clipped - 61 lines]
>
> bd
Howard Gutnick - 22 Nov 2005 03:36 GMT
Probably hydrogen peroxide. It is a common component of many OTC cerumen
treatments.

Signature

HNG

A Zen Thought: Raise my hand if you believe in psycho-kinesis.

Howard N. Gutnick, Ph.D.
Body Pride Personal Training
BodyPride@cox.net
www.BodyPrideOnline.com
757 496-3270 Home
757 630-9208 Mobile

>I used to have a lot of wax in my ear.  The way my doc treated it was
> to pour a solution with part of the name -Dioxide sounding.  After a
[quoted text clipped - 66 lines]
>>
>> bd
fyfpoon@gmail.com - 22 Nov 2005 06:35 GMT
Would it have worked in bd420's case?
Howard N. Gutnick - 22 Nov 2005 20:46 GMT
The OTC preparations typically can work for wax that is not impacted. If it took some degree of effort to remove the wax, then I doubt that it would have worked in this case. But.....you don't know until you try. The only possible harm is if the wax was not totally impacted and there was a hole in the eardrum. Then the preparation can get into the middle and possibly be a breeding ground for infection. Absent that, no foul no harm.

HNG
 Would it have worked in bd420's case?
Tristán White - 22 Nov 2005 11:37 GMT
Have you tried Hopi ear candles? You can get them in any health shop
these days. You put the candle in your ear and set light to it.

I'm going to be trying that in the next couple of days - I have severe
tinnitus following an ear operation.
Howard N. Gutnick - 22 Nov 2005 20:43 GMT
Ear candles are a scam. You will be wasting your money and you will not be clearing your ear of cerumen.

HNG
 Have you tried Hopi ear candles? You can get them in any health shop
 these days. You put the candle in your ear and set light to it.

 I'm going to be trying that in the next couple of days - I have severe
 tinnitus following an ear operation
Murray Grossan - 24 Nov 2005 07:24 GMT
On 11/22/05 12:43 PM, in article qtLgf.12723$Mi5.3647@dukeread07, "Howard N.
Gutnick" <hgutnick@hotmail.com> wrote:

> Ear candles are a scam. You will be wasting your money and you will not be
> clearing your ear of cerumen.

Howard, Hush. Even if it is a scam, it is great for the ENT doctor¹s
business income when they come in with burns, hearing loss, and candle wax
impaction.
The more candling, the higher my income from the burns and complications.
I suppose ethically we should discourage people from candling, but its great
for business.
Howard N. Gutnick - 24 Nov 2005 12:13 GMT
Re: Bloody Q-Tips after failed Syringing attempt by Dr for wax compactment
 On 11/22/05 12:43 PM, in article qtLgf.12723$Mi5.3647@dukeread07, "Howard N. Gutnick" <hgutnick@hotmail.com> wrote:

   Ear candles are a scam. You will be wasting your money and you will not be clearing your ear of cerumen.

 Howard, Hush. Even if it is a scam, it is great for the ENT doctor's business income when they come in with burns, hearing loss, and candle wax impaction.
 The more candling, the higher my income from the burns and complications.
 I suppose ethically we should discourage people from candling, but its great for business.

     And there you go. Actually confirming the truth about high-tech western doctors who are only concerned with padding their pockets and paying off their BMW's. Whattsamattayou? But then you also have to remember that the people who use these things probably also aren't smart enough to have a job, insurance, or MONEY. So you'll probably treat them and it will be hell to get paid.

 HNG

Rate this thread:






 
Sign In
Join
My Latest Posts
My Monitored Threads
My Blog
My Photo Gallery
My Profile
My Homepage

Start New Thread
Enable EMail Alerts
Rate this Thread



©2008 Advenet LLC   Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.