Ear Wax Removal the Safe Way
88Ear wax removal seems such a trivial topic and most likely to be dismissed as something ordinary. Well for some people that may be the case; but for others it would be surprising to note that they may be unaware of the unsafe practices they have been employing for the longest time. As to ear wax itself, what do we really know about it?
So instead of lecturing about ear wax and how to remove our ear wax safely, why don’t we have a test instead? You love tests, right?!
Before you put anything in your ear, make sure you read through the entire hub first. Try to see how much of this ear boggling questions can you answer correctly.
You know you are having excessive ear wax problems when you experience the following symptoms:
- There are noises in your ear which is downright uncomfortable
- You have an earache that is persistent
- Your eyes are getting blurred
- Uh-oh the dreaded hearing loss which seems to be getting worse
- Feels like something is stuck inside the ear or plugged-up ears
Answer: If you pick all of the numbers above except number three, you answered the question correctly! The above symptoms would indicate an ear wax problem. The only time we need to remove ear wax is when there is an excessive amount of it found in our ears. Too much ear wax can result to slow but progressive loss of hearing.
All of the statements below are true except for one. Which statement is false?
- Ear wax is also known as cerumen.
- In healthy amounts, ear wax acts as a temporary water repellent.
- Most of the time, ear canals are self cleaning where old ear wax is transported from the ear canal to the ear opening where it dries, flakes and falls out.
- Ear wax is formed in the deep part of the ear canal near the eardrum.
- Ear wax helps maintain a certain pH balance in your ear thus preventing the growth of bacteria and fungi.
Answer: All statements are true except for number four. Earwax is not formed in the deep part of the ear canal near the eardrum, but in the outer part of the canal. The skin of the outer part of the canal has glands that produce our ear wax! What an amazing thing! Now the function of this wax is to trap dust and dirt so it won’t reach our highly sensitive eardrums.
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Ear canals are normally self cleaning as we mentioned earlier. But in some cases, we do get bothered by an excessive amount of ear wax. So what is the best way to remove our ear wax safely?
- Clean the ear canal with the use of cotton swabs.
- Soften the wax by placing a few drops of mineral oil, baby oil, glycerin or commercial drops in the ear. Repeat this for about a week.
- The use of hydrogen peroxide or carbamide peroxide and flushing it out with water.
- Wash the external ear with a cloth but do not insert anything into the ear canal.
Answer: All answers are correct except for number one. Cotton swabs ( or any other pointed objects like pencils, cotton-tipped applicators, bobby pins, or toothpicks) should never be used to clean ear wax in the ear canal. Doing this will merely push the wax deeper in to the ear canal and may block the eardrum.
I normally would use number two which is to soften the wax by placing a few drops of baby oil. This normally works magically. Although thankfully I remember the only time I needed to do this was when I was still a child.
But if you use hydrogen peroxide or H202 you would notice oxygen bubbling off and water left behind in the ear. This wet and warm condition of your ear canal is not ideal since it would breed bacteria. Make sure to flush the ear canal with rubbing alcohol to displace the water and dry the canal skin.
Warning: If alcohol causes severe pain, this is an indication that there might be an eardrum perforation.
Never Hesitate to Consult a Doctor
In case, you felt that you might have caused a hole in your eardrum, be sure to consult your physician before trying these home treatments. Putting any solution like ear drops or other products including water in your ear with the possibility of an eardrum perforation may cause an infection.
I hope you learned something from this ear hubbing examination. Keep those ears healthy by learning how to remove your ear wax safely.
By: Michelle Simtoco
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Thanks for an informative hub on the ear, this article is an enhancement to the one I wrote and vice versa. Such a deep subject eh? More than meets the eye.
I just got back from taking my daughter to the doctor. They had to do an ear wash on one ear to remove some wax. It was a neat looking gadget I've never seen before. Wish I had one at home. :-) It really worked.
Most children have narrow ear canals which do not allow the body to remove the earwax naturally. As the child grows, so does the ear canal. The wax buildup problem will resolve itself as the child grows older.
Gypsy willow, hahahahah I found myself trying to put my elbow on my ear LOL But I know this would just be impossible to do. Thanks for making me smile. :-)
Emohealer, I enjoyed reading and learning about your ear candling hub! Thanks for coming by and reading this ear wax removal hub! LOL :-)
Hi mamacoots, glad to know your daughter has now "sparkling" ears! (Can I just make up that term for fun?) Thinking of squirting waters on my ear makes me feel ticklish with the thought. Thanks for dropping by! Regards... :-)
Hi Beth, thanks for adding that info. It suddenly dawned on me how most kids would have ear wax problems. Many thanks! :-)
I've had this several times and made the mistake of using a cue tip. The ear doctor tried using a solution to soften the wax, then he had a very low pressure water flush to remove the wax. The second time the wax was solidified and compacted to where I could hardly hear. In this case he had a spiral shaped pick device in which he slowly worked out the wax. Please do the preventative measure described above so you do not have to experience the PICK..
Regards
My oldest son had a real problem with ear wax. I don
t even really know which thing made the problem stop! I remember my husband even trying ear candles. I think it was a medicine called DeBrox that finally worked.
Very informative hub!
Some people do produce excessive wax that can block their ear canal. It would then be good to see an ear doctor when this happens.
All the best!
I always use the cotton swabs like almost everyone and never knew this information until I read this hub! So, I was not helping myself? I was just pushing the wax inside??? Thanks Ate.
Very informative hub. I've had ear candling and syringing. Obviously prevention is better than cure.
Great hub!
It complements my Snot hub and rockinjoe's Vomit one :) Except yours is probably more sensible approach!
Hi rb, your sharing is very helpful. Thanks so much. Now be careful with those ears of yours okay? :-)
Hi advisor, glad to know your son is okay now. Thanks for dropping by. :-)
Hi jill, you are so right. Sometimes when one is unsure what to do, it would be best to go to an ENT doctor. They would know better that's for sure! :-)
HI shamel, you can use cotton buds to clean your outer ears, just don't stick it in too deep esp. if there is an ear wax there...that would push it in. LOL :) Glad to see you again! :-)
Hi Jewel, I learned about ear candling from emohealer...I guess you know what to do. Keep taking care of those ears of yours... :-) Thanks for dropping by.
Hi marco, I should check your snot hub and rockinjoe's vomit too. LOL Thanks for coming over! :-)
Will follow your advise ate, but please tell my GF that bcz she insists on pushing that stick inside my brain :)
Very good. I was raised using the swab and old habits are hard to break. I'm trying though.
Hahahah ok shamel, if I ever meet her I will. :-)
Hi Rgraf, thanks for coming over to read and comment :-)
I never knew you can use baby oil to clean out ear wax?! Interesting. I did had an step-uncle who used a toothpick and broke the tip of it in his ears?! My parents had to help assist them to dig it out!
You chose a good angle to take on the subject. Very practical and helpful. Now it's time i use those cotton buds in other ways.LOL. Good job Ripplemaker:)
My son has a problem with ear wax. I am using a medicine prescribed by the doctor to make it soft. Great hub.
Hi mayhmong, I remember when I was a little girl my auntie Florence would call us one by one and she'd check our ears to see if it had ear wax. She would use baby oil if there were hardened ear wax. As for your step uncle with a toothpick, that is very dangerous to put in one's ears. :-)
Hi dayzeebee, you can use the cotton buds for cleaning the outer ear don't just go poking within to keep those ears of yours safe! :-) Many thanks!
Hi JP, using the medicine prescribed by the doctor is one of the safest way to go. Thanks for dropping by!
yeah, I know right!
Good Hub! Loud and Clear.
Mayhmong, to ear wax! Hahaha
Bala, so your ears are working fine! Great to hear! :D
My Granny had a similar saying, "never put anything smaller than your elbow in your ear"
Your granny is a wise woman London Girl :D Thanks for dropping by! :-)
Excellent hub - I'm fortunate to not have wax problems, but when my allergies flare up, my ears itch something awful lol...
Hi Enelle, you experience that too? LOL same! My mom complained once to have my ears check..she swears she could hear funny sounds from it. But then I suppose it's my allergic rhinitis acting up. Hahahah
I passed the questions by flying colors. I know the rules but don't always follow them which is most of the time. hmmm, I guess from your advice Sis, I'll have to try something else but like RGraf said in her comment above it's hard to break old habits.
Hi sis Dottie, you get a star from me for getting a 100% mark! LOL As for breaking old habits, I know what you mean!!
uh oh this is pretty alarming. I can't stand a day without cleaning my ear, I feel very uncomfortable; and worst I am using a cotton swab. Tomorrow I'll try putting baby oil on Sam's ear, hope she's ok with it, hehe!
Hi Charia/Sol, as long as you don't push the earwax thingy inward, it's okay. I see Sam will have an ear clean up time tomorrow with Mommy, enjoy! LOL
Oh this info helped me alot , of course I knew alot of it already ,but you wouldnt think I did ,because in desperation Ive been known to reach for the q-tips ,and yep just as you say make things worse.....dohh...but I did not know about the baby oil , so thanks so much ,thumbs up!
Hi Eaglekiwi, thanks for dropping by. :-)
I almost never use cotton swams anymore because the end broke off one and I had to go to the ER over it. That scared me so much and I hate qtips now lol. Good hub!
Yikes, that must have been scary! Good it didn't hurt your eardrum. :-)
Great hub, Thanks for the info
I needed to read this I push those buds way too deep and a few times the end has come off in my ear lol, and a friend had to tweezer it out ouch x0
You are welcome nyfamily. :-) Thanks for dropping by.
Hi Blondepoet, ouchy ouch! Not one of those days again huh? lol
Can I copy the Hub ( Ear Wax Removal )to my blog,this is Awesome.
My Blog url:
I remember, years ago, some of the old folks cleaned their ears out with bobby pins. How's that for dangerous.
Dolores: Yes that is dangerous! LOL
skgrao: Thanks for dropping by. :-)
Hi boy sometimes I wish I could rip my ears off. They get unbearably itchy and I go insane on them. Great topic anyway RM you rock (hugs)
Great tips. My son actually has some problems with his earwax. It's usually hard and he is taking some medications to make it soft. I really appreciate this article. Up for this one!
Excellent and informative hub, thank you! Now when my girlfriend says that I should be able to skick the Q-tip in one ear and pull it out the other, I can tell her that it's not safe or sanitary. Heh.
Hi BP, I know what you mean by itchy. That would be time I would be wanting to use any sharp object to pull whatever is making the ears itch. LOL Oh boy, but I know that would be extremely harmful..
HI JP, u-oh hope the meds are working for him. :-)
Hi wjames, hahahaha yes that should work!
ripplemaker; Thank you for posting this Hub. Very informative. I sleep with earplugs ever night, and have done so for the past 12 years, as insomnia is something I'm overcoming. This procedure seems to push the earwax way back in the ear canal, so these tips are very helpful! Thank you! Peace n' Blessings~ Kim
Hi Kim, glad you found this helpful. :-) Love and light..
This is very informative, thanks for the hub.
Hi mrgonzalesleo: Thanks for dropping by. :-)
"Listen to your body for it speaks to you." That is good advice and I listen as hard as I can! Sometimes I use a backmassager on my ear (yes I wrote an article on it!) I asked the doctor and he said it's ok to do that. Thanks for the article, I enjoy your matter of fact writing style ripplemaker!
Ben
Hi Ben, thank you for dropping by and for your inspiring comment! :) Backmassager huh? Interesting...
mmmm...valuable info and advice
thanks for the great hub
excellent hub. I always seem, to grab at the cotton buds. The kids hate me for it !
Well done hub with great accurate information. A+!
Thanks for posting such a useful information on your hub. Continue posting information for the best of the people. this post really help the people to understand the way to clean the wax.
Thanks for the survival tips Ripplemaker;)
Great Hub! Very Informative! Just had a visit with the ENT myself, crazy stuff! Thanks for sharing. :)
Nice info. I actually clean my ears everyday with a q-tip. Kind of a habit, and, apparently, a bad one! Cheers.
It's funny that I stumbled across this hub as I recently had to go to the doctor to get the end of a Q-tip removed from my ear that came off during a routine (or so I thought) cleaning. I still have a problem with irritating wax but I learned my lesson on Q-tips. I'll have to give some of these tips a try! Thanks!
Oh gee, glad your ears are okay now. Thanks for sharing as this reinforces the concept of being careful in using Q-tips. Thanks :)
I just happened upon this hub, and thought, "how interesting." However, now I say how useful, especially methods for removing earwax that I've never heard of, i.e. using mineral oil, or peroxide. Very useful hub, ergo I voted it up/useful, also I liked it to my Facebook friends.
Very useful tips and advices for Earwax removal. Actually I never knew that we can use baby oil for this. Thanks ripplemaker! Voted up!
Hello ripplemaker,
I quit trying to put my elbow in my ear years ago. Very useful Hub!!! I injured my ear at the beginning of the year while swimming. I got water inside and tried placing my hand against my ear to use as suction. Bad mistake! Thankfully, I am ok now but injuries like those can be permanent! Thank you for writing!!
I just cleaned my ear with a cotton swab some days ago, and you are right, it pushed the wax further down. I will try your tips now. Thanks a lot for sharing!
OMG, I actually use cotton swabs! I have the thought that I might pushed the ear wax deeper. Normally, I would just ask my wife to use a small steel spoon for ear eax removal but sometimes, I use cotton swabs for quick fix of itchiness. After reading this hub, I think I will refrain from using cotton swabs from now on. Thanks!
What a tremendously helpful article. You have no idea how timely this was (is) for me. My thanks!
Vital info. i used cotton swabs to clean my daughter's ear for wax built up.
thank you
Is it safe to use alcohol inside the ear canal?
I was also wondering about the alcohol- has anyone answered that yet?
No it is not safe to put alcohol inside the ear canal.
My mom who has trouble with ear wax build up for the past few years always has to visit the ENT doc for a cleaning. My mom told me about the peroxide and water for flushing out my ears.
Then why it say's "Make sure to flush the ear canal with rubbing alcohol to displace the water and dry the canal skin."? I really want to clean my daughters ear coz i can see big ear wax stuck inside her ear canal but i'm scared.. Btw, where you in cebu? I'm from cebu too.. :)
If it's not safe then why it says "Make sure to flush the ear canal with rubbing alcohol to displace the water and dry the canal skin."? How bout oil is it safe to put inside in the ear canal? Pls. I need some answer..
Shayne: Sorry for the late reply-- went out of town on a team building workshop.
Regarding your question to the flushing....there is an indication when you need to use it. I will place it here. "But if you use hydrogen peroxide or H202 you would notice oxygen bubbling off and water left behind in the ear. This wet and warm condition of your ear canal is not ideal since it would breed bacteria. Make sure to flush the ear canal with rubbing alcohol to displace the water and dry the canal skin."
So if your problem is removing earwax, using alcohol is not the answer. It is also stated here: "Soften the wax by placing a few drops of mineral oil, baby oil, glycerin or commercial drops in the ear."
After softening it, don't use a cotton bud as you might push it in instead. If you are scared to remove the earwax by yourself, do visit an ENT. This is the best way to deal with your problem as the doctor can remove it and you won't have to fear causing damage to the eardrum.
I hope this works for you. :) Blessings.
I do not know or remember how I came across this article but I wanted to comment on it & hopefully leave some information that will be helpful to others...
It is OK to put Alcohol in the Ear. JUST DO NOT PUT ALCOHOL INTO THE EAR IF YOU HAVE OR SUSPECT THAT YOU HAVE A PERFORATION(TEAR OR HOLE)IN YOUR EAR...ALCOHOL WILL THEN BE VERY PAINFUL... Alcohol is actually the primary ingredient in (OTC) many Over The Counter Swimmer's Ear Drops, which are sold to aid, in the prevention of Swimmer's Ear. Alcohol dries excess water that remains in the ear or that has become trapped or left behind (which is the cause of Swimmer's Ear). From the time I was a young Child into my early Teens, I suffered from Swimmer's Ear...(Very Painful..I have suffered with a ruptured Eardrum as an adult & it was not as painful as Swimmer's Ear)..Since that incident, I no longer put Q-tips into my ears..Which I also had to "fish" for the lost cotton tips (from Q-tips) out of my ears. Since the ruptured eardrum, that was the Final Straw for me, no more Q-tips, etc. in my Ear(s).
Hope this helps to answer questions (or clear up any confusion) regarding alcohol in the ears..
Thank you cb, your sharing is extremely helpful! I appreciate it very much!
Salamat!!! Ripplemaker.. Gb :)
hey , can i use the steel q tip to slowly workout my blockage , i accidently push my earwax more into the ear . i scared tht i might loss my hearing D:
I would suggest you visit an ENT doctor. Thanks!
WOW. I didn't know that about cleaning excess ear wax. I've been using q-tips since I was small and still use them. I'm going to stop after reading this page.
I'm gonna do some more research and update my site http://eardiagram.org
Thanks ripplemaker
Just tried this, oil in the ear and a squirt of warm water with a bulb and I can hear again! Thank you!
Gypsy Willow Level 5 Commenter 2 years ago
My physics master ar school always told us to clean our ears with our elbow, I have never forgotten it!