Photo 14/15
At this point the ear is well plucked and most of the “bulk” dirt has also been removed but the ear is NOT at all clean! But we can now get to the actual ear canal skin and clean it properly. Wet a good Q’Tip with several drops of Oticalm or Alcohol. (Alcohol is fine for the area of the ear canal you can readily see, the first inch or so but don’t use it deeper in the ear canal. According to one of our vets alcohol can actually permeate the ear drum and diffuse through into the inner ear fluid.) The fluid helps to loosen dried dirt and debris, cleans and cools the skin surface and helps soothe the hair follicles. Be as gentle as possible when loosening hard dirt/wax from the ear canal. It is often more effective to “roll” or “spin” the Q’Tip on the affected area than rub it like an eraser. Go through all the folds and crevices in the ear that you possibly can, changing the Q’Tip frequently as it accumulates dirt.

Photo 16
The readily visible areas of the ear canal have now been cleaned so it is time to gently probe deeper into the ear canal.

PLEASE be PARTICULARLY CAREFUL of two things here. FIRST HOLD EVERYTHING VERY LOOSELY! This will really be strange for your dog, especially when doing this the first few times and he/she will shake their head in response. As soon as the dog starts to shake LET EVERYTHING GO, the ear, the Q’Tip and get your hands away from their head quickly. If you let go the shaking will simply toss the Q’Tip out, if you don’t let go the Q’Tip can cause ear canal, even ear drum injury. Second HAVE YOUR VET OR A PROFESSIONAL GROOMER DEMONSTRATE how deep you can enter into the ear canal. The ear canal is incredibly deep and you can go a long way down BUT you have to know what to feel for to prevent injury and in a worst case scenario a punctured eardrum and deafness in that ear.
As with the outer ear canal roll or spin the Q’Tip more than rub or prod. This both loosens/removes the wax/dirt and captures it for removal in one motion. The chance of wax falling onto the eardrum is greatly reduced.


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