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What is ear wax and why do we have it?
Earwax, or cerumen, is a natural substance that the ears produce to help protect the ear canal and eardrum. Earwax plays essential roles in ear health. It helps remove debris from the ear canal, prevents foreign bodies and particles from penetrating deep into the ear, and it even helps protect against germs. The ears are also relatively self-regulating. Thanks to the motion of talking and chewing, as well as the shape of the ear itself, earwax naturally moves up and out of the ear. Old earwax eventually moves out of the ear canal and falls out naturally, taking any debris and dead skin cells along with it. Cerumen impaction can occlude the canal or press against the tympanic membrane (ear drum), potentially causing ear discomfort, conductive hearing loss, itching. Cerumen impaction occurs in up to 6% of the general population, affecting 10% of children and greater than 30% of the elderly and cognitively impaired.
Treatment for Ear Wax
There are several different earwax removal treatments available. The main treatments are:
- - Eardrops – drops used several times a day for a few days to soften the earwax so that it falls out by itself
- - Ear irrigation – a quick and painless procedure where an electric pump is used to push water into your ear and wash the earwax out
- - Microsuction – a quick and painless procedure where a small device is used to suck the earwax out of your ear
- - Manual removal – where a thin instrument with a small hoop or hook at one end is used to clean your ear and scrape out the earwax
We advise weekly administration of 'Cl-ear' olive oil spray can reduce the need for ear wax removal, you can buy this for £7.50 from us.
Do's and Don'ts
- - Do not attempt ear candling - this procedure is highly dangerous and there is little evidence it helps. Many patients are attending ENT & A&E with burns. The wax residue you may see post procedure is actually the residue of the candle itself.
- - Do not use cotton buds - this just pushes the wax further into the ear canal
- - Do not attempt home removals with some tools widely available on the internet such as 'corkscrews, smart buds, ear spoons, picks, hooks, tweezers or