I grabbed this one off momo (they had same day shipping in Taipei, 150NT off sale). It has a camera and works well for digging out stuff from the canal leading up to the ear drum. Camera quality is pretty good and gives you a good look at your ear canal and ear drum. Battery drained 30% in 20 minutes so I’m not sure how well the battery will hold up after a year.
I didn’t have anything stuck on the ear drum, but if you have to dig that far it might be dangerous. I kept away from the ear drum. Skin in my ear looks quite raw after digging out the earwax in the canal, since wax seems to be stuck to the skin.
Ear smells better now, but need to wash it out with something. Will try diluted apple cider vinegar.
When I was young they had a big syringe with warm water they would slowly push in to rinse the ear.
when I moved to Taiwan they used those vacuum things. This style seems quite dangerous to me. they have hurt my drums a few times at the hospitals. otherwise it is so loud I find it hard to believe it doesnt cause some amount of hearing damage.
but that’s speculation. which method is better? the water seems far safer, albeit less effective.
I had the same experience in the US. They would always use a spray bottle with warm water to clean my ears. On my last trip back to the US, my ears were badly plugged up and needed cleaning. Popped into a local urgent care and they used the spray bottle. I asked them why they don’t use a suction device like in Taiwan and they said only Otolaryngologist office would have one.
I personally prefer the suction method. It’s quicker and less messy. It can also get the earwax that is deeply impacted and hard without using the ear drops to loosen it. The noise was only an issue once, and that was when they were using the larger hole suction thing.
I bought the same brand but different model when I was in America over the summer. It’s very nice and easy to use. Just be careful to not to get too close to your eardrum. I use the shorter tipped scoop on mine so I don’t get close to it.