I went to the ear doctor today. Fortunately, this office had the ultra-sweet ear suction device, so he sat me down in the patient chair and had at my ears. The coolest part, though, is that he also had monitors and a camera set up so that you can see the inside of your own ear, so I got to see the blockage as well as what an ear looks like. It’s not very pretty, to be honest.
Sadly, there is nothing I can do about the occasional build-up. Q-tips are a very bad idea (says the doctor), as they fill the ear drum and pack down the wax, which actually makes cleaning more difficult. Peroxide and mineral oil can help, but for certain people, when the ear wants to overproduce wax and stop flushing the system as it ought, there’s not much you can do about it. The doctor suggested that I get bi-yearly cleanings to make it easier to suck it all out and also to keep from having another situation where I really could not hear well. After the cleaning, I heard noises that I forgot existed, as well as high and annoying registers of my voice. At least I’m not Urkel, though…
So ride the wave, that’s what I’ll do. I figure I’ll get another cleaning before I go, as I’m paying 55 Euro a month for insurance and getting nothing out of it, and doctor visits require nothing more than a 10 Euro quarterly payment (in a quarter in which you visit a doctor, so this is the first payment I’ve made).
