Causes, Symptoms and Prevention of Excessive Earwax

Cerumen or a waxy oil, more frequently called earwax, is produced on your ear canal. It protects our ears against dust and microorganisms. This also protects the skin of the ear canal against irritation.

Excess wax is naturally removed from the ear canal and leaves open the ear in normal circumstances. You might notice your ears blocked if you produce more earwax than needed. You may accidentally push earwax deeper and cause a blockage if you clean your ears.

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Wax accumulation is a frequent cause of temporary or sudden hearing loss. If you are trying to remove earwax at home, you should be extremely careful. Visit your ENT doctors in OKC if the issue stays. Generally, speedy and painless treatment and hearing can be completely restored.

Causes

Those with too much ear wax tend to find their ears clogged, where the wax is deep into the ear canal.

Getting water into the ear canal from showering or swimming can lead to excess earwax in some people.

Hearing aids, earplugs, and similar instruments stop wax from naturally clearing from the ear, which causes it to build up inside the ear. Use of earplugs or aggressive attempts to relieve itching may make the accumulation worse. The most infamous no-no’s for putting in your ear include cotton swabs, bobby pins, twisted napkins, and pinky fingers.

Earwax buildup - Signs

  • An earache

  • An ear infection

  • Itchiness

  • Tinnitus or ear ringing

  • Fullness feeling inside the ear

  • Vertigo, dizziness or nausea

  • Fluid draining from the ear

  • Cough

  • Reduced hearing

  • Odor from ear

Prevent Blocked Ear Canals

Do not use cotton swabs in the ear canal or cotton buds. The swabs of cotton simply ram earwax deep into the canal, making everything worse.

Reason: The swabs in cotton are usually larger than the ear canal, so form a kind of piston.

Never try digging out earwax with sticks or toothpicks. Usually, it only pushes the wax in. These objects can scratch and cause infection on the ear canal too.

Ear canals get dry and itchy when earwax is completely removed, so don’t even think about using soap or other detergent to wash it out.

Limit earplugs to be used.

Ear nose throat specialists in OKC use equipment specially designed to relieve earwax impactions; this is not a DIY operation.

Risk Factors

Harder or drier earwax produced by narrow or hairy canals is the worst kind, as earwax gets drier and becomes harder the longer it stays in the canal.

Osteomata or bony growths with certain skin conditions in the outside of the canal, eczema, hardened earwax due to age, and frequent ear infections increase the risks of impactions.

At OKOA, we would love to help you to remove earwax and provide treatment when it turns problematic. Our ear nose throat specialists in OKC know how to treat ear problems for both adults and children.

**Disclaimer: The information on this page is not intended to be a doctor's advice, nor does it create any form of patient-doctor relationship.

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