Earwax may seem a little gross, but it’s incredibly useful to your hearing health. While earwax is sticky and smelly, it’s a naturally produced substance that your body needs to keep your ears safe.
What is Earwax?
Earwax, medically known as cerumen, is a natural substance found in the outer ear. It’s made from oil and sweat, mixed together with dirt and dead skin cells. Don’t knock it though, because this concoction is saving your hearing.
While you may wish it wasn’t so sticky and smelly, these are its two most beneficial properties. Earwax keeps harmful things like bacteria, bugs, dirt, and dust from getting too close to your inner ear. Because earwax is sticky, small debris get trapped before they reach your inner ear, keeping the inner ear and eardrum safe. The smell is great at keeping bugs away, and the earwax will trap any that venture too close.
Because it’s soft, earwax also serves as a moisturizer that keeps your ear canal happy. Having healthy earwax means you won’t have trouble with an itchy or irritated ear, and you’ll have less chance of ear infections. Your earwax will be a different color and texture depending on your age, what you eat, and how healthy you are. Dark brown earwax is a sign that the earwax is older, and has lots of dirt and bacteria trapped in it. Light brown or yellow earwax is healthy earwax.
How Much is Too Much?
The body does an amazing job at regulating things like earwax production, to make sure you have just the right amount. If you have a healthy diet and good hygiene, you probably don’t need to worry about earwax. Your ears will naturally remove excess earwax, along with dirt and bacteria, when you wash and move your jaw when eating and talking.
However, your body may be overproducing earwax if you have a lot of stress in your life. Others who might be overproducing earwax are those who have abnormal ear canals, often have ear infections, or have a lot of hair growing in their ear canals.
What Not to Do
Never use a Q-tip to clean your ears! While this the most common way to remove earwax, it’s actually very dangerous for your ears. With a Q-tip, or any other pointy thing like a hairpin or sharp object, the earwax is simply pushed further towards your inner ear, causing blockages and stopping the natural cleaning processes that remove excess earwax.
Not only that, but poking around in your ear with a Q-tip is the easiest way to puncture your eardrum! Then excess earwax will be the least of your worries. With a punctured eardrum, you’ll be at high risk of ear infection and hearing loss. You may also experience pain, bleeding, or may lose your sense of balance. Ear candling is also not advised, as there is high risk of wax blockage, damage, or other injury.
How to Safely Clean Your Ears
The best advice we have for you is to not over-clean your ears. Earwax is a healthy part of your body, and your ears need it to be safe. In fact, over-cleaning your ears will be a sign to your body to produce more earwax, which can block your hearing and put you at risk of infection.
We recommend that you wash your ears with warm, soapy water and a wash cloth, or clean them during your daily shower. This will loosen earwax, and allow the body to expel excess earwax naturally. Over-the-counter ear cleaning kits also work well. If you’re concerned about the earwax building up in your ear, come visit us at Desert Valley Audiology for a consultation, and we’ll discuss.
Desert Valley Audiology
Proudly Serving Las Vegas and Henderson areas
702-605-9133