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What is earwax?
The outer ear is the funnel-like part of the ear you can see on
the side of the head, plus the ear canal (the hole which leads
down to the eardrum). The ear canal is shaped somewhat like an
hourglass -- narrowing part way down. The skin of the outer part
of the canal has special glands, the cerumenous and sebaceous
that produce earwax. This wax is supposed to trap dust and sand
particles to keep them from reaching the eardrum. Usually the
earwax accumulates a bit, and then dries up and comes tumbling
out of the ear, carrying sand and dust with it. Or it may slowly
migrate to the outside where it is wiped off. Wax is not formed
in the deep part of the ear canal near the eardrum, but only in
the outer part of the canal.
Earwax is healthy
in normal amounts and serves to coat the skin of the ear canal
where it acts as a temporary water repellant. The absence of earwax
may result in dry, itchy ears. Most of the time the ear canals
are self- cleaning. That is, there is a slow and orderly migration
of ear canal skin from the eardrum to the ear opening. Old earwax
is constantly being transported from the ear canal to the ear
opening where it usually dries, flakes and falls out.
Under ideal circumstances, you should never have to clean your
ear canals. However, we all know that this isn't always so.
Why does earwax
sometimes block the ear canal?
When a patient has wax blocked up against the eardrum, it
is often because he has been probing his ear with such things
as cotton-tipped applicators, bobby pins or twisted napkin corners.
Such objects only serve as ramrods to push the wax in deeper.
Also, the skin of the ear canal and the eardrum is very thin and
fragile and is easily injured. Continual rubbing of the ear canal
with a cotton-tipped applicator can abrade the skin and promote
an infection.
| Earwax
is healthy in normal amounts and serves to coat the
skin of the ear canal where it acts as a temporary water
repellent. The absence of earwax may result in dry,
itchy ears. |
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Patients who
wear hearing aids may also develop an accumulation of earwax because
the hearing aid or earmold prevents the normal migration of the
wax to the outside. Therefore, patients who wear hearing aids
should always have their audiologist inspect their ear canals for
accumulation of cerumen.
What can be
done when earwax accumulates?
When wax has accumulated so much that it blocks the ear canal
(and hearing), your physician (or an ear, nose and throat specialist)
may have to wash it out, vacuum it, or remove it with special
instruments. Ear drops, which soften the wax, may be prescribed.
If so, you may wish to first try over-the-counter products such
as Murine Ear Drops, or Audiologist's Choice Ear Drops which are
available through our offices. These are not as strong as the
prescription wax softeners but are effective for many patients.
In the event that the non-prescription product is not satisfactory,
a physician should be consulted. You may soften the wax for a
few days by instilling several drops of an earwax softener into
the ear canal twice a day. This can be purchased in your drugstore
without a prescription. If your ear still feels blocked after
using the ear drops, you should consult your physician, who may
elect to wash it out.
Before using over-the-counter products, you must first know that
you do not have a hole (perforation or puncture) in your eardrum.
Putting the above eardrop products in your ear in the presence
of an eardrum perforation may cause an infection. Certainly, washing
water through such a hole would surely start up an infection.
If you are uncertain whether you have a hole in your eardrum,
consult your physician.
*(c)1995. American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery,
Inc. This information is adapted from a leaflet that is published
as a public service. The material may be freely used for noncommercial
purposes so long as attribution is given to the American Academy
of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Inc. One Prince Street,
Alexandria, VA 22314-3357
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