When you get pregnant and have a baby you expect your body to change shape, but your body can change in other ways too. I’ve known people whose feet change size and never go back. Imagine all those shoes you can no longer wear!! After I had Holly, my body started to produce more ear wax and of course for a while I didn’t realise this.
It wasn’t until one day when Holly was about 2 years old, I woke up and I couldn’t hear properly and when I say I couldn’t hear properly, I was practically deaf. It’s the most horrible feeling ever and because ear wax isn’t something that we talk about, and can be seen as embarrassing I didn’t feel like I could tell people. When I met up with people I would have to concentrate really hard on what they were saying, and often just nodded along.
Three years ago I was able to go to my doctors surgery and have the wax removed. It was the best day ever! Sadly with the budget cuts with the NHS, the doctors no longer offer this service. I discovered this when last November I had another build up of wax and I couldn’t hear again. The doctors advice was to use olive oil and over a few weeks the wax will go. Yes, weeks! For weeks every night Andy would pour oil into my ears, something that he probably didn’t sign up for when we got married!!! After a few weeks of being practically deaf, the wax did shift and my hearing was better. But not perfect and I just lived with it.
When Leightons got in touch, I was amazed and delighted to hear that they now offer a wax removal service and invited me to come and try it. I couldn’t wait. The thought of having my full hearing back was so exciting.
A week leading up to the appointment they advise you to oil your ears every day, which I did at bedtime as I find it the best way to let it soak in and I can lie down.
When I arrived at Leightons I saw the hearing specialist and she talked me through what happens with the build up of wax and how it covers your ear drum. She then talked me through the three different options of wax removal they offer. I choose the water irrigation method, as this is what I had previously and I felt most comfortable with.
She then talked me through what would happen. To begin with she put a camera in each ear to see where the wax was, and I was shown this on the screen. I was delighted to see that in my right ear, the oil had moved the wax away and you could see it just on the side. Which meant I didn’t need the water irrigation in that ear. In my left ear you could see the lump of wax covering the ear drum and this is what she was going to remove.
Next she used an instrument to test my ears, this checked to make sure the ear drum was working ok and to see how much hearing I had in them. It was then time to do the water irrigation.
It is basically a small machine, that is filled with luke warm water. Then there is a pedal attached which the lady used to control the flow of water. There is then a small pipe that is placed in your ear where the water shoots out. I held a metal container under my ear to catch any water and wax.
The whole experience didn’t cause me any pain or discomfort. The water jets into your ear, but this doesn’t even feel uncomfortable and when that wax moves and you have instant hearing its the best feeling. It took a matter of minutes to do. She did say that because I had oiled my ears it was easier to do and if you don’t do this, it can be harder and take longer to remove the wax.
I was really pleased with the service that I received, the lady took her time to talk me through everything that was going to happen and made sure I was comfortable throughout.
Ear wax isn’t something that we tend to talk about, for some reason its seen as embarrassing. But we all have it and for some people, the build of it can cause real problems.
Whilst of course it would be lovely if the NHS still offered this service, I am just pleased that I now have somewhere that I know I can go to, if and when this happens again to me. It costs £50 for wax removal from one ear and £75 for both ears. Honestly when I was practically deaf, I would’ve paid any amount of money to be able to hear again.
You can find all the information you need to know here.
Now I can hear perfectly in both my ears and I will be oiling my ears once a month, as the lady recommended to try and stop the build up again.
Disclosure: I was invited by Leightons to try the ear wax removal service and I was compensated for my time. All views opinions and photos are my own.
