Ok, I'm taking care of our friend's 9 year old son, while he's out in the field with my DH. I noticed on the car ride home from school that his ears had a ton of dark thick wax. I told him "We need to get your ears cleaned out, buddy!!" in a light-hearted way, to not hurt his feelings. He told me a kid at school made fun of him today because of it. Apparently he had ear problems, he said something about them being blown out, but I'm not sure what he meant. I cleaned the outer edges with a washcloth and q-tips, the stuff is the color and consistancy of molasses. It's really bad, and I didn't get the stuff that is in the canal, because he said he's not allowed to use q-tips. Honestly, I don't gross out easily, and this made me want to gag, it's that bad. No noticable odor, although I didn't smell his ears. Any ideas?? I'm going to talk to DH about it next time he calls, but in the meantime I'm worried it's something really bad, so I figured I'd ask the mommy squad! TIA!!

By Kaye on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 07:44 pm:

He probably just has an overactice ear wax gland. My son has this. My brother does as well, it always looks yucky. I can remember my brother cleaning his ears out with one of those kits regularly. Said things would sound funny.

By Amecmom on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 07:56 pm:

Don't worry about it. You cleaned it the right way. There's an oil you can use to swab the visible part of the canal, but I wouldn't do that. Save it for the parent.
Ame

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 08:22 pm:

No worries. My DS (9) has very waxy ears. Always has. It's thick and med. to dark brown. I used to clean them out gently every night after bath but it has become less of a problem as he has gotten older. We only have to clean them out about once a week now. He has been teased in the past. One kid asked why he had chocolate in his ears. When he was a preschooler another parent rudely told me, "His ears need medical attention!" I firmly replied, "Our pediatrician is aware, THANK YOU, and advised me it is nothing to worry about."

By Tink on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 09:04 pm:

Honestly, my ds has a large amount of dark wax and, although his ped has said it's nothing to worry about, it has always bothered me. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one. He gets his cleaned out once or twice a week. I have noticed an odd (not *bad* per se) odor but it's been while I was holding him close and nearly had my nose buried in his ear.

I'd let his dad know that you'd noticed it and that he'd been teased for it, just so he can decide whether to see the Doc about this.

By Crystal915 on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 09:08 pm:

Thanks guys!! I talked to his dad, and it's just like you said, overproduction of wax. He said he has talked to E (the boy) about taking care of it, and cleaning well, so he wouldn't get teased. So, now that I know that he's not ill, I'm feeling ok!! Thanks, everyone!! I knew you'd have the answers!

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 09:53 pm:

Dad needs to help E take care of it! A child isn't capable of gently cleaning out the ear canal. At least my son isn't. Not to mention it's hard to see into your own ear. LOL!

By Karen~moderator on Wednesday, February 1, 2006 - 07:21 am:

Ditto Trina! And you (as in you/me/him/whomever) need to be careful when using Qtips to clean ear wax, so you don't puncture eardrums or push the wax back into the ear canal.

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, February 1, 2006 - 07:28 am:

It probably wouldn't hurt to take him to the doctor to get his ears washed out! We wash out a lot of ears, where I work!

By Crystal915 on Wednesday, February 1, 2006 - 11:17 am:

I know dad does keep up with him, and helps him, but since he's a single dad (mom is far away) he tries to stress independance to E. He's (dad) a typical Army guy, a bit tough on E, but is really great with him. I've let D (dad) know what happened, so he'll talk to E about it this weekend. Thanks again, everyone!

By Brandy on Wednesday, February 1, 2006 - 01:56 pm:

Crystal that is great of you to take on the responsibility of takeing care of this little boy so the father doesn't have to worry about him = )

By Feona on Wednesday, February 1, 2006 - 02:56 pm:

He needs the wax removed by a doctor probably.

The doctor said no q tip because it can push the ear wax solid pack so it effects your hearing and balance and has to be removed. They usually push water in the ear to remove in the doctors office after using hydrogen peroxide.

Ds has had his ear wax removed twice. Once under sedation believe it or not.

Sounds gross though.. It was very nice of you to try. You are such a mommy.

He can use a few drops of hydrogen peroxide before he goes in the shower every time. That will clear it up. Sounds like he need to go to the doctor and clean the mess up.

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, February 1, 2006 - 04:40 pm:

We use a syringe, with just the tubing from a butterfly needle on the end of it. Then we just flush people's ears with water, until all the wax comes out.

Q-tips jam the wax up into the ear and make it impossible to flush out.