The outer ear cleans itself by producing a waxy secretion called cerumen. This yellowish-brown waxy substance protects the tissues, and helps prevent infection by trapping microorganisms, dirt and other irritants.
Wax is constantly travelling towards the outer ear where it can drop out. Actions of the jaw, such as talking and chewing, help to 'massage’ the wax out of the canal. The earwax you see is a combination of cerumen, shed skin cells and dirt.
Sometimes wax builds up, blocks the ear canal and causes symptoms. Symptoms can include mild deafness, a sensation of fullness inside the ear, earache, tinnitus (ringing in the ear) and sometimes dizziness.
Some people are more prone to earwax blockages than others due to:
▪ An intrinsic tendency to produce a lot of earwax, or very dry or thick wax that doesn’t move efficiently out of the ear canal.
▪ Narrow ear canals.
▪ Hairy ear canals.
▪ Overzealous cleaning with fingertips or cotton buds, which pushes wax further down the canal and promotes overproduction of wax.
▪ Working in dusty or dirty environments.
▪ Inflammatory conditions of the skin lining the canal, such as eczema.
▪ Patients that wear hearing aids, as the aid prevents the natural movement of the wax out of the ear canal opening.
▪ As we get older our wax gets thicker, making the wax harder to clear, and the outer part of the ear canal tends to collapse, narrowing the part of the canal that the wax needs to get out of.
To reduce the incidence of wax build-up if you tend to get blocked ears as a result:
▪ Use wax-softening drops or oil: Olive oil, Cerumol, Waxol or Ear Clear
▪ Avoid cleaning the ear canal with cotton buds as they will compact the wax.
▪ Treat any associated inflammatory skin conditions
If the above measures don't work and your ear canals become blocked, you can use Hydrogen Peroxide to clean as below
Buy 3% Hydrogen Peroxide and a medicine dropper at the pharmacy.
Place your head on side. Use the dropper to fill up the ear with the solution (around 1-3 ml in adults, 0.5ml in children).
‘Pump’ the solution within the ear canal using the ‘triangle’ of skin and cartilage in front to the ear canal for about 30 sec.
Allow it to bubble and fizz before tipping it out.
Repeat on the other side if needed.
The ear canal will dry itself in the next minute or so.
If you are also prescribed antibiotic drops, it is important that there is a 30-minute gap between hydrogen peroxide (best used first) and the antibiotic drops.
If your ear symptoms are made worse by hydrogen peroxide drops, or you find them too painful to use, please stop their use and discuss this with your doctor.