Q: What do your ears and your oven have in common?
A: They are both self cleaning
It’s true! Your ears can clean themselves with the help of cerumen. Cerumen, the medical term for earwax, forms in the outer one-third of your ear canal, naturally migrating out of your ear with jaw movements, such as talking or chewing, to naturally clean your ears. Earwax is also thought to have protective, antibacterial and lubricant properties. Wax protects the ear by keeping debris away from the eardrum. Inserting ear cleaning or wax-removal tools can potentially push the wax further down the canal, thereby causing harm to the wall of your ear canal or eardrum. Removing ear wax can also make your ear canal feel dry and itchy because of the natural lubrication it provides.
Is it ever okay to clean your ears?
Despite the wide array of removal tools sold over the counter, the American Academy of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery Foundation (AAO-HNSF) believes that under ideal circumstances your ears will never need to be cleaned: “Unfortunately, many people mistakenly believe that earwax should be routinely removed for personal hygiene. This is not so. In fact, attempting to remove ear wax with cotton-tipped swabs, bobby pins, or other probing devices can result in damage to the ear including trauma, impaction of the earwax, and changes in hearing. These objects only push wax in deeper, and can block the ear canal entirely.”
How to help avoid earwax build up:
If your ears tend to produce a great deal of earwax, you can help prevent build up and impaction by using a softening agent once a week. Drops like Debrox and Murine are sold over the counter and can soften wax by allowing it to come out on its own more easily. If you feel most comfortable leaving removal to the professionals, you can schedule wax removal every 6 to 12 months with your doctor or hearing professional. NOTE: If you have tubes in your ears, a hole in your ear, diabetes, or a weakened immune system you should contact your physician before attempting to remove wax on your own.
Signs of an impaction (earwax buildup):
An excess build-up of earwax can lead to impaction and other unpleasant symptoms including pain, infection, decrease in hearing, itching and more.
- If you notice pain, fullness, or a plugged sensation in your ear you should see a professional to rule out wax impaction.
- If wax blocks your ear canal you may notice a decrease in hearing, ringing, itching, odor, or an increase in coughing.
A professional trained in earwax extraction can use suction, a curette, microscope or irrigation for removal. Manual removal may be used if the ear canal is narrow, the eardrum has a hole in it, or there is a tube in the ear drum. Individuals with diabetes or weakened immune systems should be especially careful about wax removal.
Hearing aids and earwax
Earwax can wreak havoc on hearing aids. Some hearing aid wearers report an increase in earwax production when they begin wearing hearing aids. Hearing aids can stimulate the glands in the ear canal to produce more wax and block the normal migration of wax from the ear canal. More importantly, earwax can clog a hearing aid’s microphones and receivers, impairing quality and performance. This is why cleaning and maintaining your hearing aids is so important. Contact our office today and we will demonstrate how to properly clean and maintain your hearing aids.
Sources:
- This Will Make You Never, Ever Want to Clean Your Ears Again: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/21/dont-clean-ear-qtip_n_5600401.html
- Ear Wax and Care: http://www.entnet.org/content/earwax-and-care
- The truth about cleaning your ears with cotton swabs: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2016/01/29/truth-about-cleaning-your-ears-with-cotton-swabs.html
- You’ll Never Clean the Inside of Your Ears Again After Reading This: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/06/27/ear-cleaning.aspx#!
This blog originally appeared on www.starkey.com by Dr. Beth McCormick.
