My hubby can't hear out of right ear. Doctor sent him to audiologist. Ran tests, said ear drum looks fine. Said hearing aid would not help. Will send report to his doctor & doctor will probably refer him to ear/nose/throat specialist. Waiting to hear from doctor but today hubby tells me he can feel a ball or something rolling around in what I assume is his ear canal. He has used Q-tips for many years even though I have always told him not to. Question: could there be a wax ball way far back in ear canal that audiologist didn't see and is affecting his hearing? I know he will be getting an appt. soon but very curious if anyone has experienced having a wax ball in their ear canal or so much wax that it affected hearing.

Thanks for any response!

He needs an appointment with a specialist. Hearing loss manifests in 2 ways, conductive or nerve damage. The audiogram can tell the difference. If just in 1 ear, unless your husband does extensive rifle shooting, leans to conductive loss and that is harder to correct.

I don't believe that wax balls form in the eustacian tube. That tube normally secretes mucus, the same way the sinuses and nose do, and the mucus drains into the throat without our awareness, UNLESS the tube swells or collapses. But the eardrum is the barrier from the outside world and wax. His doctor would have seen a perforated drum.

I am 70 and don't have much hearing in my right ear, after a lifetime of various pains in it. I did go to an ENT decades ago, and he told me about the collapsed tube. It doesn't bother me. But I can see you wanting to see a specialist.