Cool Tools for Practicing CR

[Matt]

I never realised until recently how much tea had stained my teeth! They look as good as new after a good cleaning to remove the stains.

 

Some good ideas here. I like the UV blocking glasses. :) 

[Dean Pomerleau]

Earwax Removal System

Hey, we haven't seen anything on this thread in a long while!

I just purchased this Bebird Earwax Removal System on Amazon for $30 and it did an amazing job helping me get my ear unplugged. If you've got an earwax issue and have been frustrated with Debrox drops like I have, I highly recommend this little gadget and so do nearly 5000 other people who've left it five-star reviews.  It is amazing to me they can sell a miniaturized wifi camera in the form of an otoscope for so little money. It looks a lot like an electric toothbrush only smaller with a camera and a small scoop at the tip. Here is a picture of it:

Here is the text from the review I just left on Amazon describing my experience with it:

A couple weeks ago my wife went to her PCP and after paying her $50 insurance co-pay the PCP failed to get her earwax out and sent her to an ENT specialist. The ENT got her wax out but we got an additional bill for ~$200. Crazy.

So when my ear started to get blocked, I said to myself there had to be a better way. I tried Debrox and that was a fail. So I came to Amazon and found this beauty. The reviews looked great, but over on the Google Play app store many people said the latest update to the Bebird app was a failure and they had to send it back. I was a little nervous, but for $30 bucks what did I have to lose? I ordered it, figuring the problems those people had were likely to be some kind of user error. 

I'm so glad I did. This thing comes packaged like a new iPhone - very professional. The documentation is obviously written by a non-native speaker, but the setup pictures were easy to follow and the app worked perfectly the first time with my Galaxy S10e phone. I did put it in airplane mode before connecting to the Bebird wifi as folks on the Google Play store recommended to avoid any issue with connectivity. 

The pictures are very clear and the gyroscope inside the unit does a great job of making sure the picture remains stable and right-side-up however you spin the handle around while the tip is in your ear. The app allows you to switch between left and night ear mode, presumably because the software needs to know which ear you are clearing to display the image right-side-up. It has a wide-angle and a zoom mode toggle on the app but I found the wide-angle was all I needed.

It comes with two types of scoops - 1 flexible blue scoop and 5 clear rigid scoops. I used both. The rigid scoop made it slightly easier to scoop out wax but the flexible scoop was less irritating to the ear canal. I ended up mostly using the flexible one.

It looks a little getting used to maneuvering the thing into the right spot in the ear canal and it would have been helpful if the documentation included tips for actually using the thing to remove wax. But it was intuitive enough and the wax was clearly visible once I got the tool into the right spot in my ear. I won't lie - it was pretty uncomfortable to insert it all the way in to where the wax was near the eardrum and I was a little nervous about damaging my eardrum or ear canal. But once I got the hang of it I was able to get out a TON of wax buildup with no problem. I did soften it with Debrox to make scooping it out easier and that seemed to help. 

It took my about 1/2 hour to fully clear my ear, which I flushed with water with a squeeze bulb to make sure everything was out. Then I took the scoop tip off (it is easy to remove using the screw collar that holds it in place) and used the wand as a camera to make sure I got all the wax out. I can't tell you how gratifying it is to see a squeaky clean ear canal all the way back to the eardrum and what a relief it was to be able to hear out of that ear again. And best of all I saved at least a hundred dollar visit to the doctor, not the mention the time and hassle such a visit entails these days.

I can't recommend this little guy highly enough. Thanks Bebird!

--Dean

[Saul]

Hi Dean!

I bought one -- should arrive soon.

However, I may not use it immediately.  The reason:  I'm scheduled to see my GP in October.  I'll probably then schedule (or possibly immediately get) the latest concoction of the fluzone vaccine, and either schedule, or immediately receive, a meeting with her assistant, who is an expert at hard ear removal:  he surgically removes hardened ear wax very effectively (but I'll show him the new device).

  --  Saul

Edited September 4, 2021 by Saul

[AlanPater]

Against common advice, I use a hairpin.  I need to steady both hands on the hairpin by putting my elbows on the counter due to essential tremor, but it works, and I use it when my ear canal gets itchy too.  Once a I could hear a hardened piece of earwax hit the sink.  I clean the hairpin each time.

[Saul]

Another "cool new device":   It's great for cleaning the lenses of glasses. 

[Todd S]

On 9/3/2021 at 12:00 PM, Dean Pomerleau said:

If you've got an earwax issue and have been frustrated with Debrox drops like I have, I highly recommend this little gadget

Thank you Dean! Accumulated earwax has been an ongoing issue in my left ear for many years. This new tool works great!  --Todd