The most debated question is-should you remove ear wax or not? It is therefore evident that any ear wax remedy should be carefully scrutinized before using it. Most methods used including q-tip and use of napkin corners to remove the wax in ear, only work on the superfluous outer wax. In fact it also pushes the outer wax even deeper while cleaning the wax.
Ear wax is necessary to keep the ear area moist as well as to take care of the dead skin that your ear sheds like the rest of the body. The ear is designed to self clean therefore ear wax removal is not required.
Sometimes cleaning the ear can become necessary due to pain or hearing problems. Other alarming signals requiring cleaning the ears are tinnitus or ringing in ears, coughing, ear clogging or feeling of fullness,partial hearing loss, itching, odor or discharge.
So don't make it a weekly routine of cleaning your ears. Consider cleaning when necessary.
Let us first understand what is ear wax and its causes.
What causes ear wax build up?
Earwax or Cerumen, is a yellowish sticky substance(wax) in the ear canal. It protects the skin of the ear canal, assists in cleaning and lubrication, and also provides some protection from bacteria, fungi, insects and water. Excess or impacted ear wax can press against the eardrum possibly impairing hearing.
The ear wax usually regularly comes out of the ear canal in its natural process cycle. However sometimes it doesn’t get out of the ear canal resulting in excess ear wax build up. In other terms this also called ear wax blockage.
There is another cause of blockage. People trying to remove ear wax by ear cotton buds, may push the wax deeper inside the canal. This is called impacted ear wax.
Both the ear wax buildup and impacted wax should be removed. It is preferred that it is done with precision and utmost care. Ear drums are very sensitive part of the body and you can't afford to damage it.
Good intentions sometimes can produce undesirable results. This is so true for cleaning the ears. You might think that you are cleaning the ears for better hygiene. But think again. Both the eardrum and ear canal are very intricate and delicate area of the body. You can damage your hearing by doing it wrongly.
Ear Wax Removal at Home
First of all don’t try any ear wax removal home remedy if your eardrums are not healthy. Because any effort to remove ear wax can further damage canal skin and can cause infection.
Another aspect to remember is that there are many tools available in the marketplace such as ear wax removal syringe and ear wax removal candle. It is better to limit the use of such tools or they should be used under medical supervision to avoid complications.
One of the most popular and oldest remedies to remove ear wax is to tilt your head on one side and add some warm baby oil in the ear canal. Keep it there for some time and turn the face to drain it on paper.
Some times for ear wax removal, olive oil is also used. Weather baby oil or olive oil make sure that the oil is warm enough to melt the wax inside and cold enough to not cause any burns.
You can use hydrogen paradise treatment or OTC ear drops. These are usually the same ear drops that are also used as swimmers ear home remedy.
To sum it up we can say that allow natural process to get rid of excess ear wax. Don’t try to clean your ears until you are sure that the eardrum is healthy and the remedy will not cause any damage.