What is ear wax?
Earwax (or medically known as cerumen), is the yellowish/orange substance which naturally is produced from the glands inside the ear canal. Wax is very useful for protecting our ears with its antibacterial properties and assisting in keeping the ear canal well lubricated, preventing the skin from becoming too dry.
We humans have evolved for ear wax to naturally fall out of the ear on its own via the migration of skin and the movement of the jaw when talking and chewing for example. However, many people produce excessive earwax, have narrow ear canals and the lack of migration of skin inside the canal can cause a blockage.
One of the biggest causes of ear wax blockages is when people attempt to self-clean their ears with a cotton bud for example, pushing the ear wax further into the ear causing it to compress against the eardrum, making the blockage worse. People who wear hearing aids all day and wear ear plugs at night over a sustained period stop the wax from naturally falling out, eventually causing a buildup.
The symptoms of ear an ear buildup can range from:
- Feeling blocked and fullness sensation
- Difficulty hearing
- Irritation & itching
- Ear ache and pain
- Dizziness
- A ringing sound inside the ear (tinnitus)
- Ear infection
Treatment and preparing for your appointment
It is important you do not push objects inside the ear, such as; cotton wool buds or fingers, as we have seen many outer ear infections coming into the clinic, and there is a risk you may damage the ear.
We recommend visiting your local pharmacy and asking for advice on an ear wax softener product to help soften and break down the wax, which helps with the natural cleaning process already discussed.
Our clinical specialists have found sodium bicarbonate to be the most effective and olive oil spray over a course of usually 5-7 days (twice a day), but please follow the instructions given with the product.
You might find your blockage becomes worse when applying drops to begin with, therefore; if both ears are blocked, we recommend alternating between both ears so you have one ear available to hear.
Over the next couple of days you’ll find the blockage eases once the drops have softened the wax, and you might find the wax naturally starts to fall out of the ear when you are asleep lying down for example.
Once you have finished your course of drops this is the ideal time to visit our microsuction clinic to have your wax safely removed using gentle suction. The ear wax softener makes the procedure quick, simple and painless.
However, our clinic offers same day appointments and regardless if you have applied drops, or not, in many cases the ear wax is soft enough to take out, and we can use drops at the clinic to help remove the wax. If the wax is stubborn, here at Clear Earwax, we offer a free followup consultation if we are not able to remove all the dry stubborn wax at the first appointment. We might recommend you go away for 7 days to apply drops to soften the wax and to come back and have the rest removed via micro suction technique.