All things earwax
A question I am asked on a daily basis is “What is the best way to clean my ears?” My answer? Not at all.
You see, a fully healthy and functioning ear is self-cleaning. Earwax (also called cerumen) provides protection for your ear canal.
Earwax acts as a physical barrier for dirt, dead skin, hair, and yes, even bugs.
Earwax is slightly acidic making the ear canal less friendly to bacteria-nature’s antimicrobial.
Earwax lubricates the skin to prevent drying out.
Earwax naturally moves out of the ear canal at a snails pace (imagine the skin having a micro moving sidewalk), aided by jaw movements like talking and chewing. So it is not unusual to find a small ball of wax at the ear opening (called the auditory meatus). That’s good, your moving sidewalk is working well.
Now imagine you use a Qtip after showering and start wiping away this barrier. Your body will naturally move to replace it and if the cycle continues, you will end up with overproduction. Removing the barrier also puts you at greater risk for ear infections, especially if that Qtip accidentally scrapes the very delicate, thin ear canal skin.
I have had many patients come to me on a tight schedule for ear cleanings and after ruling out a canal deformity or treating a skin disorder, most of them are able to move away from frequent cleanings by decreasing how often and aggressively we clean the ear.
Ear wax comes in all colors and consistencies-yellow, brown, red, wet and dry. Genetics actually does play a role, so blame your parents; in fact the SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) responsible (ABCC11) is the first example discovered of a DNA polymorphism determining a visible genetic trait. It’s actually part of the 23andME test if you are curious.
When should you get your ears cleaned? If you have ear fullness or hearing loss, increased tinnitus (ringing noise) or pain, you should have someone take a look.
Ideally, stick with the experts. ENT providers have special training and instruments to avoid injury to your ear canal and ear dum. Plus, if you are having frequent buildup, there may be a (curable) reason behind it. If you want to try something at home, the over-the-counter wax removal kits with a peroxide-based ear drop and irrigation bulb can be helpful but if that wax is tightly wedged it may not be enough. Ear candling doesn’t seem to really be effective for severe cases (based on an experiment testing the physics behind it) and for all of our sakes, avoid the corkscrew devices (things ENT nightmares are made of)!
