Earwax build-up
How to clean your ear?
Earwax is probably not something about which you bother much. But it has a key role in your ear health.
Interested to know how?
Keep reading to find everything about ear health.
What is earwax?
Earwax is a natural process of ear cleaning. It keeps your sensitive ear canal debris free. Moreover, it protects your ear from bacteria that could cause infection.
Glands in the ear canal produce earwax. It ranges in colour from yellow to dark brown to dark orange. Normally, the earwax produced is enough to maintain ear health. But occasional hardening of this wax may lead to discomfort or hearing loss.
Why is it essential to have earwax?
Earwax is good for ear health. That’s why our body produces it naturally. Here’re some advantages of earwax:
Protection from bacterial infection
The sticky texture of earwax doesn’t allow bacteria to move further into the ear. Thus, earwax prevents infections.
Keeps unwanted guests away
The insect repellent nature of earwax keeps insects away. So, you never need to worry about anything crawly or creepy getting into your ear.
Cleans the ear canal
Earwax traps bacteria and dirt that enter the ear canal. As cleaning proceeds, earwax containing these unwanted substances will fall out keeping the ear canal clean.
pH Maintenance
Earwax balances the ear pH and moisturizes the skin of the ear canal. As a result, there will be no dryness and irritation. Moreover, balanced pH also helps maintain overall ear health. The slightly acidic nature of earwax keeps the bacteria away, stops their growth, and prevents infection.
FAQ's
It’s essential to remove earwax because earwax build-up may cause:
- Earache
- Discomfort
- Itchy ears
- Infections
- Hearing loss
- Tinnitus
And if you wear a hearing aid, it could
- Damage your hearing aid
- Develop the need for frequent cleaning of the hearing aid
- Cause poor fitting of hearing aid
- Cause discomfort when you wear a hearing aid
- Make the hearing device whistle
Have earwax build-up in the ears and want to have a hearing test? If yes, keep in mind that earwax build-up makes it challenging to perform a full hearing test.
Earwax doesn’t allow your hearcare professional to view your eardrum properly. As a result, he will not be able to assess your hearing precisely. In a nutshell, earwax is responsible for inaccurate results of hearing tests.
Besides, earwax also creates problems while
- Getting hearing aids fitted
- Having ear mould impressions
Nature has designed your ears to self-clean. Therefore, ears produce earwax to prevent various ear problems.
Most people rely on cotton buds to get rid of extra wax. But In reality, using cotton buds may cause earwax blockage or other issues. It will not remove the wax. Instead, it will push the wax further into the ear, leading to impacted wax or wax build-up.
Impacted earwax does not contribute to good ear health. It will lead to an infection. If it develops, visit your doctor as soon as possible.
Traditional ways to clean your ears include candling, ear syringing, or irrigation. However, our medical professionals don’t use this method due to complications associated with it. Some complications may include damage to the eardrum, tinnitus, and infections.
Other effective and safe ways to remove wax include:
- Manual removal:
This method teases the wax from the outer portion of the ear canal with specialist tools. It works best with soft wax. In case of hard or impacted earwax, you must undergo wax softening treatment beforehand.
- Microsuction
Microsuction is the safest technique for earwax removal. It also ensures the effective removal of impacted or hard wax. Moreover, this method is comfortable because it doesn’t involve contact with the eardrum and ear canal’s sensitive skin.
In this method, our medical professionals use a medical suction device for the quick and careful removal of earwax. Moreover, they monitor the ear canal with a microscope throughout the process. Thus, we ensure no wax in your ear canal at the end of the procedure.
So, microsuction is more effective because it’s quick, comfortable and has minimum risk of infection.