The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Mary (Ohio) on 12/29/2018
★★★★★
I have worked over the years with while trying to look up and stuff fell in my ears. I ended up in an ER once in so much pain. She removed some foreign object from my ear. The Doctor gave me a tip to take a shower sprayer and the hottest water I could take with my head tipped in a downward sideways position opposite the ear I was cleaning and spray it in there. I just had excess wax in my ear and gently with the other end of tweasers I could feel something hard in there.
I used Peroxide, then tried with a bobby pin, tweasers smooth end again, then more peroxide and then the bobby pin and got something very hard out of my ear I could feel in there. I took my time, was very gentle and very careful. Once it was moved about and the wax broken down it was the bobby pin that managed to coax it out.
I have NO doubt that I am better for it, and possibly safer than the shower method even that may have sent it into my inner ear. I might note that after I was done I put a dab of Coconut oil in as it is antimicrobial and will add some oil back to my ear as of course it felt sensitive a bit on my last dip in there to make sure the foreign object was out.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Cindy (Charlotte Nc) on 02/07/2015
I just did the same thing. I kept putting in peroxide in my ear throughout the day. Then I finally got a bulb and squirted peroxide in my ear. Still nothing. I put warm water in the bulb and and irrigated. A big chunk of wax came out. What a relief!
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Ceruman (Galena, Il) on 06/14/2012
Actually, a nice way to gently clear impacted earwax or Cerumen is a syringe with a soft non latex tip. This will irrigate the earwax using warm water after pre-treatment with Debrox or hydrogen peroxide.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Bonnie (Halifax, Nova Scotia) on 01/01/2012
★☆☆☆☆
Hydrogen Peroxide did not work for me... my ear is worse clogged than ever and sore now too.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Tory (Muncie, Indiana) on 10/31/2011
★★★★★
I love this hydrogen peroxide remedy! After having trouble for months with my ears, peroxide cleaned them out in 2 days. 20 minutes a few times a day, and then use an ear syringe filled with warm water to rinse them out. Peroxide works much better than traditional ear drops.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Eliza (Nyc, Ny, Usa) on 05/02/2011
★★★★★
Hydrogen Peroxide really works! It took three days of applying almost a dropper-full of 3% hydrogen peroxide to my clogged ear twice daily, but I kept at it and now I can hear again!
I think what did it was accidentally falling asleep with the stuff in my ear.... Probably sat in there for a good hour and when I woke up and rinsed the ear out with an ear syringe, out poured tons of little chunks of wax :)
So, try keeping it in for a long time (I suggest while reading a good book lying on your side) and make sure to irrigate the ear with an ear syringe and warm water after soaking and draining. Don't give up if it doesn't work right away!
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Elle (DC, USA) on 05/31/2009
if h202 has been left uncovered, or exposed to heat, light etc. it will loose potency. you may need to get a fresh bottle to ensure that it is effective. if it does not fizz, it is most likely useless.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by John (Kansas City, KS) on 01/26/2008
★★★★★
Hello. I and wife have used hydrogen peroxide for years and it always works for us.
We either use it full strength or mixed with mineral oil. Sometimes we warm it first.
After we drain it out we spray water gentle from a syringe or spray bottle. Usually the wax is dissolved without using a syringe or spray bottle, but we use them to removed the rest of the hydrogen peroxide which can irritate the ear canals.
We haven't ever bothered about the ear canal being wet afterward and have had no trouble. Sometimes a few days later an ear canal may get itchy and we've found that the equate brand of preparation H stopped the itching better than campho phenique or anything and soothed the ear canal.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Htownfarmer (Houston, Texas) on 08/16/2016 9 posts
I have been doing the same for years. I use to have ear aches, right side mostly.
A doctor told me about hp years ago. I fill the ear canal, wait until the fizzing stops, roll over and do the other ear. I might do this twice a month. I never use q-tips. If I have a build up it will dry out and fall out. I hear a doctor on tv say the ears are self cleaning. Not for everyone.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Stuart (Lithgow, Nsw Australia) on 05/11/2012
★★★★★
Using 3-5 drops of Hydrogen Peroxide in the ear will remove all wax, just continue to do it. Do not use if the ear drum is perforated.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Marcie (Portland, Oregon) on 10/17/2011
★★★★★
I had one ear totally blocked and the other ear was getting there. Tried various store "ear wax removal oil" from the pharmacy plus a natural tea tree ear oil. Nothing worked. Then I came upon your suggestion. I had to do 3 treatments (50, 40, 20 minutes) on the totally blocked ear and 2 treatments (40, 20 minutes) on the other. I could hardly believe what came out of my ears! For me, I think the important part was to keep putting the peroxide in over and over throughout the time period. Then using warm water and a bulb I swished out the goop! Having had this problem all my life, it is wonderful to now have an easy solution to keep my ears clean! Thank you!
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Angie (Valencia, Ca) on 08/03/2011
★★★★★
Oh my gosh! Works like a charm. After over a week of complete blockage in my right ear I found this remedy and gave it a try. I used a bulb syringe to place a few drops of peroxide into the ear and reapplied a few more drops as the bubbling stopped. I did this about 4 times, it took about 20 minutes. After letting the peroxide soak, I then used the bulb syringe to rinse out the ear canal with warm water. Chunks of dark wax came out in the rinse and I could immediately hear. Thanks for the relief!
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Luis (Cali, Colombia) on 07/21/2009
★☆☆☆☆WARNING!
HP 3% Food Degree in Ears: Please, be cautious with application of HP 3% food degree in ears, since after sprinkling it with an inhaler to my elderly mother, she experienced an inflammation of drums and internal channels, with the side effect that she lost the hearing almost completely for one day. Nevertheless, with medicinal drops for inflammation and pain, the following day she began to recover gradually her normal level.Thanks God. I was very worried and disheartened.
Luis
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Janice (Coloma, Mi) on 03/11/2009
★★★★★
I used to work in a large hearing aid place and the only thing the audiologists would have people clean their ears out was with Hydrogen Peroxide. Ten minutes in each ear or put in at bedtime with a cottonball so that it won't get on your pillow and NEVER clean your ears out with a q-tip. It only pushes the wax in further.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by June (KC, KS) on 01/12/2008
★★★★★
I also use store-bought H2O2 for use in my ears. I did have trouble with it leaving behind liquid and causing earache. And a couple times after using H2O2 I had sharp pains in my ears. I remedied this by putting a small amount of coconut oil in each ear after draining the H2O2 and it helped pretty quickly.
Now if I use H2O2 in my ears I add a drop of alcohol and only use a drop or two of H2O2 (full strength). This seems to be enough to ward off any virus-related earaches.
I also use H2O2 mixed with distilled water as a nasal wash and this is very effective in immediately ridding me of sore throat issues and any kind of infection I might feel at the back of my palate and upper portion of my throat where sinus drainage occurs. It burns a little, even with using distilled water, but I've come to recognize it as a good burn because I know it's killing the infection.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Xhellie (Coyle, Washington) on 12/07/2007
★★★★★
My son's ear canal was completely obstructed with ear wax. I know you're not supposed to use cotton swabs or bobby pins. I was so desperate to remove this blockage that I almost used a bobby pin. I was very skeptical to try this remedy because when I was younger I did this procedure to myself and left it too long. The ending result was the worst ear infection I have ever had.
This is the procedure I followed: I made my child lie on his side with the affected ear facing up. I pulled his ear lobe and used a head lamp so I could look deep into the ear. While still pulling the ear lobe back and up I dropped in the peroxide untill the ear was full. It bubbled immediately! I waited till the bubbling stopped, about 4 minutes and had him flip his head over and drain the peroxide. The peroxide that drained out was brown and murky so I knew it was working. We repeated this process several times, rinsing the ear with warm water between every peroxide "bath". After about 4 sessions I used the syringe to irrigate the ear and a huge ball of wax came ou of his ear. Upon inspection the ear canal was unblocked. Please remeber though, a layer of wax in your ear is a GOOD THING! Thanks again to Earth Clinic and everyone who contributed!!
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Steve (Venice Fl) on 11/20/2006
★★★★★
Wow!! The hydrogen peroxide worked great for me. I could barely hear out of my left ear for nearly a week, so I used peroxide, for me it took nearly one hour to clear out the canal. I VERY highly recommed using peroxide to get a wax build up out of your ear. When in use in your ear, the peroxide bubbles and sizzles in your ear and the noise gets louder and louder as it clears out that disgusting old wax out of your ear. It was really fascinating though. Interesting experience.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Cass (Dover, DE) on 11/09/2006
★★★★★
Our pedicatrician was a really old fashioned doctor. He looked for ways to save his patients money and would recommend old timey remedies if he knew that they worked.
Our pedicatrician found that my son had excessive ear wax. He said he could clean the wax out but it would cost us money and be painful to my son. What our pediatrician recommended was to put olive oil in the ears at night and put a cotton ball in each ear. In the morning after breakfast my son was to lie down and I was to fill one ear at a time with peroxide and he was just to lie there for 15-20 minutes. When the time was up he was to flip his head over real quick to the other side. We did this for close to a week and saw good results. We appreciated the money and the pain that was saved by using a remedy that our pediatrician reccommended. Never again did our pediatrician say that my son had excessive ear wax. My son is now a grown man.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by Floyd (Fort Worth TX) on 04/28/2006
★★★★★
About 43 years ago, we went to Plat National Park in Sulphur, Oklahoma. The water there is very cold and has a lot of sulphur in it. It gave all 3 of our children, and myself an ear infection. Mine was so bad, I had to go to the Dr. He told me to mix Hydrogen Peroxide and Alcohol 50/50 .He said the Peroxide would kill the infection and the alcohol would dry up the Peroxide. If you don't get the Peroxide out, your ear will hurt more. Since then we have never went to the Dr. for an ear problem. THANK GOD.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Posted by JC (Toronto, Ontario) on 03/15/2006
★★★★★
I had a plugged ear for a few days with excess earwax. Faced with the option of having an ENT use a mini-vacuum if lavage didn't work I decided to try this out. I softened the earwax first by applying warm olive oil to a cotton swab then placing it in my ear for 10 minutes. Then I droppered the H2O2 in. It did generate some heat causing a mild burning sensation when the oxygen bubbles were releasing but it was only mildly uncomfortable. I did the wash for ~20min and followed with the rubbing alcohol which did cause some stinging. However, I can hear again without having to wait for a referral to and ENT so I'm very happy. Thanks for the advice.
