Read: 7 mins. How FRUSTRATING it had been living for a week without the ability to hear much from one ear... aargh! It was clogged the day after stand up paddle boarding in the picturesque Newport Beach, California, harbor, and it felt like having been underwater with a ringing bell inside the head. Five days of ear wax removal drops did nothing but contribute to continued irritation and a small amount of worry that something might have been wrong. Did I have impacted earwax, water stuck in the canal, an ear infection, or worse? Here is what I did to regain my hearing.