New Experience: Ear Car Wash
It is a natural process in most humans: ears produce wax, that wax tends to accumulate in the ear canal, and eventually that messes up your hearing. There are some ways to deal with that yourself: q-tips, ear drops, etc. Recently, though, a company here in Redmond is offering... an ear car wash.
The "car wash" in the name is just to give the idea of a process where your ear canals can be quickly and easily cleaned, like a real car wash cleans cars. The procedure is based on a device that looks like a really big pair of headphones: a nurse fills the "headphones" with water and then adjusts them on your head. Once started, the device pumps lukewarm water at some pressure in your ear and collects all that comes out, which includes the wax in your ear canal and anything else that may be obstructing your hearing.
I tried the process today. You have to schedule a time, but once in the clinic the process is indeed quick. The device was adjusted to my head and activated, and then I could hear and feel the SWOOOOSH of water being pumped into my ears. After some seconds the device stopped, at which point the nurse removed it and used a medical instrument to verify if my ear canals were fully cleaned. She thought there was still some wax left (which is not unusual), so the process was repeated, but after that she checked and indeed my ears were completely clean. I immediately noticed a difference in how clearly I could hear various sounds.
I liked the result, but it is somewhat expensive, so maybe the ear drops are still a better solution. However, if your ear is really clogged, this may be the way to go. All I can say is that after the experience it felt great to hear sounds so clearly.
