That's a coincidence. I went for my usual eye check-up at Boots the other day and was invited to come back for a free hearing check. As I already have NHS hearing aids, it appears that I qualify for a one and a quarter hour appointment rather than the standard 15 minutes, so I jumped at the chance. (Of course, I have no intention of paying upwards of £1000 per ear for private hearing aids, but I thought it best not to mention that.)

Anyway, I attended on Thursday and, after the usual questions, the audiologist used a video camera to look in my ears. The right ear wasn't too bad, but the left one: what a shock! I don't want to put anyone off their tea, but it was full of horrible brown and yellow wax. If I could, I'd have asked the audiologist for a print-out, so I could have posted it on here for you all to see. Strangely, though, it doesn't seem to have made much difference to my hearing.

I have in the past syringed my own ears; I have a large 50ml syringe which I 'came by' many years ago. However, this time, I bought some 'Earol' (not 'Earhole') spray, at a cost of £6 - SIX BLOODY POUNDS! and it's only a tiny bottle - and shall use this until I can have my ears syringed professionally, the earliest date at my local health centre being 19th January - NINETEENTH OF BLOODY JANUARY! - there must be literally hundreds of waxy-eared people in this area.

Then it's back to Boots for my free hearing test on 25th January.

... GP won't just hose them out on the spot the way they used to.
Gotta put "stuff" in them for a few days to allegedly soften things up (Doc gets paid for two visits).
He prescribed some stuff I'd never heard of which turned out to be -
Coloxyl "to relieve constipation in infants".......

Been waiting for someone to suggest that I am a sh*thead.
Control yourselves.

For goodness sake SIX POUNDS !
They are your ears man what do you want washing up liquid?
Wrap it up in Christmas paper and give it to yourself as a pressie .

I shall find it very interesting, but I'm a little worried as to how I'm going to tell them that I don't want to buy their expensive hearing aids.

The very cheapest appear to be £350 each and the dearest run into thousands of pounds each. I couldn't possibly justify that sort of money. I don't wear mine that often anyway: once a week at Scottish dancing (so I can be sure to hear the instructions!) and occasionally if I want to hear music, for example, in detail. My wife, of course, would like me to wear them all the time when we are together, but I try to explain very kindly that the problem is that she mumbles.

The NHS hearing aids were, of course, free and even if I should lose or damage one the replacement cost is, I believe, only £75.

How can they justify such high charges for (private) hearing aids?

Not sure about D.I.Y when it comes to sensitive organs like ears. Easy to perforate an ear-drum if you are not careful.

When I was a child (light years ago) my doctor once told me I should never put anything smaller than my right elbow in my left ear ! Took me a while to figure it out - but it was good advice.

Come on now JB... I can't see you worried about how to tell them you don't want their over priced hearing aids.

Just go in wearing unwashed clothes, have smelly armpits and scuffed shoes. Oh and in case they invade your personal space too much, don't clean your teeth.

Problem solved. You obviously couldn't afford their hearing aids.

PS Don't forget to say 'pardon' when they tell you their prices.

I agree...the ear canal is a delicate structure, ear DIY can be risky.

Don't just go Barging in to the Ear Canal!