Remove ear wax safely
I seem to have a lot of ear wax build up in my ear. Can I take it out with a q-tip? Anything else I can do?
Remove ear wax safely
Michael J. Ruckenstein M.D., M.Sc., is professor, vice chairman, and residency program director in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at University of Pennsylvania Health System
Ears naturally clean themselves, extruding ear wax. The best way to clean your ear is to wipe the ear with your towel after a shower. In a small minority of people, the ear's self-cleaning mechanism is defective and the wax requires manual removal.
Cotton swabs do more harm than good when attempting to clean out ear wax. Because they are the same diameter as the ear canal, they push wax deeper into the canal. This can make it more difficult and painful to remove later on. A few drops of hydrogen peroxide in the ear may bubble out the ear wax. Mineral oil or baby oil will soften the wax and may allow it to come out on its own.
Ear candling should be avoided at all costs. It does not remove any wax, but tricks the patient into believing wax is flowing from the ear. In fact, all they are seeing is candle wax. Not only does it not work, but candling puts the patient at risk for severe burns of the ear from the hot candle wax.
Physicians or their assistants can wash out an ear to clean out the wax. Otolaryngologists (ear nose and throat specialists) might also employ small curettes and suctions to clean the ear.
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I save my ear wax and when I get enough I use it on my car it works fine.
Also, when taking a shower pull down your earlobes and use the warm water spray to easily remove earwax— farley- Wouldn't peroxide cause an otitis external infection?— Marcfromphilly
@Marc- my doc recommended an OTC ear wax removal drop. It's mainly peroxide. All it does is bubble the wax away, and kills any bacteria that may be in there, too.— verve- What's so "embarrassing" about ear wax? In fact, no topic or question is embarrassing when it deals with health.— catharine_christian_carpenter
- I don't use cotton swabs because they don't go deep enough. I use a tissue etc because I can make it smaller so it goes in further. I've been doing it for years and it works so there's no problem.— Phillies2008WSChamps
- Wax build up can cause temporary hearing loss. Irritating and dangerous. The wax can also adhere to the surface of the ear drum which is painful to remove.
Irrigation for some people, I am one, can make things worse by actually further packing down the ear wax.
As to embarrassment, well it can feel silly to see a high price doctor so he/she can can remove large gobs of wax. But you can also get over it when you can hear fully again.
Prescription ear drops every day to to aid natural process and every 90 days I go see my ENT so she can scrape and vacuum accumulated wax and dirt in the ear canals.
BTW, how many elderly men with hearing loss actually have major impacted ear wax? Too many. The wax build up can cause some serious irritation and inflammation. The primary care physician irrigates (has the nurse), further exacerbating the problem. If you or your elderly relative is experiencing hearing loss and has not seen an ENT then get them to the specialist to examine and diagnose.— nebulus - You make a good point. Frequently, when an elderly person complains of hearing loss, I look in their ears and see lots of impacted ear wax. Removing it allows them to hear much better. And because they hear better, they are safer, because they can hear the sound of an approaching car, for example. — Jen D
- Nurse practitioners are also very good at removing ear wax from their patients' ears.— Jen D
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