Mike's Ear Wax Wiki ( this is what I tell medical students )
Ah well, suck or blow the issue is whether the wax is loose enough. Wax begins life as skin oil and as it dries it hardens ( thus acquires the label of 'wax' ) but it also bonds to the skin while doing so. With a successful extraction you will often retrieve much skin flakes to boot. Skin is renewed all the time by cell division and in the case of the ear canal it begins in the central area of an intact drum. A given cell will progress to the margin of the drum, quite slowly, and thence out along the canal before being desquamed ( falling off ) at some point. Unlike snakes say, who shed their entire skin in one afternoon, we shed flake by flake. The average adult generates and loses about 6kg per year over their entire body!
Typically the wax is generated at a fairly continuous rate but hearing is preserved even with only a small air gap/passage available from the outside world to the drum. Only when the last 5% of the canal is filled, say, does hearing become impaired. This may happen suddenly if the 'rubble' dislodges as it were and closes off air conduction. This does not affect low frequency sound much because that is transmitted mostly by vibration through the bony skeleton eg. a heavy truck passing by. High frequency requires air conduction - to hit the eardrum and make it vibrate - which is the majority of human speech discrimination. We all sound much the same in our low frequency speech components. What makes one voice distinguishable from another, and also the direction it is coming from, is in the higher frequencies. That makes high frequency loss ( all causes ) rather socially devastating and more so in group encounters.
Special factors making wax a problem for ear canals :
- using cotton buds to shove it in further ie. back along the conveyor belt. Don't put anything in your earhole smaller than your elbow !
- dusty environments add particles to the mix, especially the 'mote' size that hangs around in the air for a while ( thus at human height ).
- swimming and diving, particularly to depth where water is forced in by hydrostatic pressure. Almost always is a problem with SCUBA etc if not properly attended to beforehand. Very occasionally a challenge for skydiving, because water is far more dense and rapid pressure changes over a given time are easier to achieve ( and less time to equilibrate ). But here the issue intersects with the function of your Eustachian tube ....
Pointers for removal :
- get someone qualified to do it. This is not merely a medico-legal disclaimer. You actually have to know what you are doing to avoid irreparable damage.
- prior application of oil helps to lift the wax before the procedure.
- if the patient has never had it done before then explain how it will feel ( weird ) and sound ( bizarre ) in advance so they won't freak out.
- the commonest result of ear candling is burns.
- I limit to two irrigation attempts per ear per sitting.
- flush gently ie. don't perforate the eardrum.
- use warm water ( for preference at 36 degrees C ) to avoid generation of convection currents in the semi-circular canals ( your personal 3-axis 'inertial gyro' ). Vertigo, falls and vomiting await those who ignore this.
- stop if any pain.
- always check for drum damage afterwards.
Cheers, Mike.
( edit )
Quote:
...big box of choccys and bribe her to be gentle with me...
This is supreme quality advice. Go Belgian for preference. Add flowers if .... err .... yes. Hmmmm. Nuff said.
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
Just adding to the post count. I got about 4 inches of snow and the Federal Government is SHUT DOWN in the Washington, DC area!! As are most of the local jurisdictions, with Maryland, DC and Virginia ALL declaring Snow Emergencies!! We normally only get about 4 to 8 inches in a whole Winter, so getting @4 all at once, while not unheard of, is not normal. We usually get in the 1 to 2 inch range several times, meaning most people have no clue how to drive in the bigger snow falls, nor how to clear the snow away. WAAAY too many jurisdictions are trying to make the roads 'clean and dry', ie no snow on them, BEFORE they move on to the next area that very little gets done. If they would just clear off the top few inches, leaving a packed base to drive on, they could move more quickly into other areas and let the cars themselves help in the snow removal as they drive across it. But nope they go back and forth, and back and forth, and back and forth, etc, etc, ETC until the street has NO snow on it, then they go to the next street. They do this no matter how long it takes, and while it looks really nice for some folks, once those folks get off of their pristine clean streets they get stuck on the un-plowed streets!! Last time it snowed this much in Washington DC there were STILL un-plowed streets 5 days later!!! The suburbs are the same way, pristine clean main roads, but not a plow to be seen between them and your home!
After the snowstorm is over all the politicians will hold press conferences with MANY pictures showing how 'clean and dry' their main roads were, with not one word being said about how the workers couldn't EVEN GET to those main roads! MOST people do not own 4 wheel drive vehicles, they are a waste of money for most of the seasons and even most winters, meaning even a few inches of snow brings everything to a halt if you have little to no experience in how to drive in snow in a 2 wheel drive vehicle. MOST people who are stuck will rev the engine, spinning one of the tires thinking they will melt the snow eventually getting them to bare pavement and be able to drive away, instead they end up 'beaching' their vehicle on the snow drift they just buried themselves into!!
I am SOOO glad that being retired I no longer have to deal with this anymore, I say "let it snow, let it snow, let it snow"!!!
Good evening everyone.
Good evening everyone. :-)
Posting after dinner. :-) (Homemade Tacos, rice, and beans.)
TimeLord04
Have TARDIS, will travel...
Come along K-9!
Join SETI Refugees
I am not a DR and not able to
I am not a DR and not able to give you legally advise here, but Mike might.
This happened to me and a little tool designated for babies was used by my DR.
Sucked the wax right out.
Pluto will always be a Planet to me.
Mike's Ear Wax Wiki ( this is
Mike's Ear Wax Wiki ( this is what I tell medical students )
Ah well, suck or blow the issue is whether the wax is loose enough. Wax begins life as skin oil and as it dries it hardens ( thus acquires the label of 'wax' ) but it also bonds to the skin while doing so. With a successful extraction you will often retrieve much skin flakes to boot. Skin is renewed all the time by cell division and in the case of the ear canal it begins in the central area of an intact drum. A given cell will progress to the margin of the drum, quite slowly, and thence out along the canal before being desquamed ( falling off ) at some point. Unlike snakes say, who shed their entire skin in one afternoon, we shed flake by flake. The average adult generates and loses about 6kg per year over their entire body!
Typically the wax is generated at a fairly continuous rate but hearing is preserved even with only a small air gap/passage available from the outside world to the drum. Only when the last 5% of the canal is filled, say, does hearing become impaired. This may happen suddenly if the 'rubble' dislodges as it were and closes off air conduction. This does not affect low frequency sound much because that is transmitted mostly by vibration through the bony skeleton eg. a heavy truck passing by. High frequency requires air conduction - to hit the eardrum and make it vibrate - which is the majority of human speech discrimination. We all sound much the same in our low frequency speech components. What makes one voice distinguishable from another, and also the direction it is coming from, is in the higher frequencies. That makes high frequency loss ( all causes ) rather socially devastating and more so in group encounters.
Special factors making wax a problem for ear canals :
- oily skin type.
- skin conditions eg. excema, dermatitis, psoriasis.
- dimensions and shape of ear canal.
- using cotton buds to shove it in further ie. back along the conveyor belt. Don't put anything in your earhole smaller than your elbow !
- dusty environments add particles to the mix, especially the 'mote' size that hangs around in the air for a while ( thus at human height ).
- swimming and diving, particularly to depth where water is forced in by hydrostatic pressure. Almost always is a problem with SCUBA etc if not properly attended to beforehand. Very occasionally a challenge for skydiving, because water is far more dense and rapid pressure changes over a given time are easier to achieve ( and less time to equilibrate ). But here the issue intersects with the function of your Eustachian tube ....
Pointers for removal :
- get someone qualified to do it. This is not merely a medico-legal disclaimer. You actually have to know what you are doing to avoid irreparable damage.
- prior application of oil helps to lift the wax before the procedure.
- if the patient has never had it done before then explain how it will feel ( weird ) and sound ( bizarre ) in advance so they won't freak out.
- the commonest result of ear candling is burns.
- I limit to two irrigation attempts per ear per sitting.
- flush gently ie. don't perforate the eardrum.
- use warm water ( for preference at 36 degrees C ) to avoid generation of convection currents in the semi-circular canals ( your personal 3-axis 'inertial gyro' ). Vertigo, falls and vomiting await those who ignore this.
- stop if any pain.
- always check for drum damage afterwards.
Cheers, Mike.
( edit )
This is supreme quality advice. Go Belgian for preference. Add flowers if .... err .... yes. Hmmmm. Nuff said.
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
Just adding to the post
Just adding to the post count. I got about 4 inches of snow and the Federal Government is SHUT DOWN in the Washington, DC area!! As are most of the local jurisdictions, with Maryland, DC and Virginia ALL declaring Snow Emergencies!! We normally only get about 4 to 8 inches in a whole Winter, so getting @4 all at once, while not unheard of, is not normal. We usually get in the 1 to 2 inch range several times, meaning most people have no clue how to drive in the bigger snow falls, nor how to clear the snow away. WAAAY too many jurisdictions are trying to make the roads 'clean and dry', ie no snow on them, BEFORE they move on to the next area that very little gets done. If they would just clear off the top few inches, leaving a packed base to drive on, they could move more quickly into other areas and let the cars themselves help in the snow removal as they drive across it. But nope they go back and forth, and back and forth, and back and forth, etc, etc, ETC until the street has NO snow on it, then they go to the next street. They do this no matter how long it takes, and while it looks really nice for some folks, once those folks get off of their pristine clean streets they get stuck on the un-plowed streets!! Last time it snowed this much in Washington DC there were STILL un-plowed streets 5 days later!!! The suburbs are the same way, pristine clean main roads, but not a plow to be seen between them and your home!
After the snowstorm is over all the politicians will hold press conferences with MANY pictures showing how 'clean and dry' their main roads were, with not one word being said about how the workers couldn't EVEN GET to those main roads! MOST people do not own 4 wheel drive vehicles, they are a waste of money for most of the seasons and even most winters, meaning even a few inches of snow brings everything to a halt if you have little to no experience in how to drive in snow in a 2 wheel drive vehicle. MOST people who are stuck will rev the engine, spinning one of the tires thinking they will melt the snow eventually getting them to bare pavement and be able to drive away, instead they end up 'beaching' their vehicle on the snow drift they just buried themselves into!!
I am SOOO glad that being retired I no longer have to deal with this anymore, I say "let it snow, let it snow, let it snow"!!!
This is what happens when you
This is what happens when you take a computer off the shelf for maintenance and walk out of the room.
Edit: Ok, I need to figure out how to reduce the size of the pic.
Phil
I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.
Thanks Mike! Might pass on
Thanks Mike! Might pass on the flowers ....
Just a ruddy irritation ......
Waiting for Godot & salvation :-)
Why do doctors have to practice?
You'd think they'd have got it right by now
Good morning everyone. :-)
Good morning everyone. :-)
TimeLord04
Have TARDIS, will travel...
Come along K-9!
Join SETI Refugees
RE: This is what happens
Here you go http://picresize.com/
Thanks for the link Magic.
Thanks for the link Magic. Apparently my miniMac does not have any "real" editing software on it, unless I've just missed it.
Phil
I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.
No problem Phil, I have
No problem Phil,
I have hundreds of pictures but I just use the free websites to do stuff like that instead of software.