In one of the articles I read someone said that their mother used to blow cigarette smoke into their ears when they had an ear infection and it seemed to work. Another interesting although unproved theory but it may explain why my ears feel better after I have done it.
I like the warm water treatment idea a lot, Little Hawk, because it has everything I want: "It's dead simple, it costs nothing, you can do it yourself, and it works. Problem solved!" Except for the sinus/clogged ear problem of course.
I also discovered in my info-surfing another technique which helps me to breathe more easily and helps to unblock my ears. It is called Buteyko breathing and I could have gone to a $300 half day seminar on it, but I chose to just look it up on the 'Net. (Beats me how they could charge $300 for teaching a very simple technique!)
It involves a simple method of holding your breath so that your ears pop. The main caution is to breathe out completely first and not to push or force the pressure but simply to hold your nose with your mouth shut until you feel a gentle relief of pressure ( a kind of gentle pop) in your ears. Repeat a few times until the pressure is equalised.
Sorry, that isn't to do with ear wax but it is related to ears so it is only half a thread creep.