Why does the body produce earwax?

The ear consists of three areas: outer ear, middle ear, and inner ear. The bones that amplify sound are in the middle ear and the hearing mechanism and nerves are housed in the inner ear, an area we can not readily see with the naked eye. The outer ear consists of the canal up to the ear drum and the outside cartilege which we call an ear.

Cerumen or earwax is healthy in normal amounts and serves as a self-cleaning agent with protective, lubricating, and antibacterial properties. The absence of earwax may result in dry, itchy ears. Most of the time the ear canals are self-cleaning; the ear will push out the wax little by little with the use of the hair in our ear and the natural sloughing of dead skin from the canal.

Earwax is formed in the outer one-third of the ear canal where the wax glands lie. So when a patient has wax blockage against the eardrum, it is often because he has been probing the ear with such things as cotton-tipped applicators, bobby pins, or twisted napkin corners. These objects only push the wax in deeper.

Wax blockage is one of the most common causes of hearing loss. This is often caused by attempts to clean the ear with cotton swabs. Most cleaning attempts merely push the wax deeper into the ear canal, causing a blockage. Most cases of ear wax blockage respond to home treatments such as wax softeners. Patients can try placing a few drops of mineral oil, baby oil, glycerin, or hydrogen peroxide in the ear.

Under ideal circumstances, the ear canals should never have to be cleaned. To clean the ears, wash the external ear with a cloth, but do not insert anything into the ear canal. Irrigation or ear syringing is commonly used for cleaning and can be performed by an ENT doctor. Manual removal of earwax is also effective. This is most often performed by an otolaryngologist using suction, special miniature instruments, and a microscope to magnify the ear canal. Manual removal is preferred if your ear canal is narrow, the eardrum has a perforation or tube, other methods have failed, or if you have diabetes or a weakened immune system.

EAR CANDLES are not a safe option of wax removal as they may result in serious injury. Injuries such as burns, obstruction of the ear canal with wax of the candle, or perforation of the membrane that separates the ear canal and the middle ear have been seen. It is safer not to use this method.

There are no proven ways to prevent cerumen impaction. Certainly avoid inserting anything in the ear, such as Q tips, pins, sticks. These will push more wax inside than take out and may lead to serious injury of the ear drum.

If the home have not alleviated the wax or if wax has accumulated so much that it blocks the ear canal (and hearing), seek your New York or New Jersey Ear doctor to remove the wax. If there is a possibility of a hole (perforation or puncture) in the eardrum, consult a physician.