Earwax Treatment
Overview
- What is earwax?
- Tips For Safe Ear Cleaning At Home
- When Do I Need Earwax Removal?
- Preventing an Earwax Build-up
What is earwax?
Earwax gets little credit for all the good it does for your health and well-being. It has two primary purposes, to protect your ear from dust and other foreign particles that might otherwise get trapped inside your ear and to lubricate your ear canal to stop the skin from becoming dry and itchy.
An excess of earwax can sometimes cause a build-up or blockage and affect your hearing.
Tips For Safe Ear Cleaning At Home
At Triton Hearing, we always recommend seeing a trusted professional for proper earwax removal. It would be best if you did not attempt to remove compacted wax or earwax build-up yourself as you could damage your ear canal.
The only part of your ear that you should be cleaning at home is the Pinna (the outer part of your ear). You should avoid putting Q-Tips, or any other object inside your ear canal or using ear candling. Although these are popular methods of DIY ear cleaning, they can lead to permanent damage to the ear canal. When in doubt, book in with a trusted professional.
TIP: You can help old earwax move out of the ear canal by chewing or moving your jaw. Once the earwax makes its way to the ear opening, it can dry up and fall out. You can also wipe it off of the outer ear with a cloth or large cotton ball.
When Do I Need Earwax Removal?
Although earwax is usually harmless, build-up over time or wax that is particularly hard may cause you some degree of discomfort. You might benefit from earwax removal if:- You are experiencing ringing in your ears (tinnitus)
- A feeling of fullness, or pressure, in the ear canal
- Earache or pain in your neck and jaw
- You have a history of earwax build-up
- Partial hearing loss, which is usually temporary
Preventing an Earwax Build-up
There are a few things that we can do to prevent a build-up of wax:- Have earwax removal service done through your local provider prior to your annual hearing check appointment.
- Come in for your yearly hearing check appointment with Triton Hearing.
- Be careful wearing in-ear headphones or earbuds, or try to wear them less often to allow the ears natural self-cleaning process to take place
- If you have hearing aids, come into your local clinic for your free hearing aid clean and check appointments
If you have significant amounts of earwax, visiting an Ear Nurse specialist may be your best bet. A trained specialist can safely remove earwax build-ups so that your hearing will not be affected. Your ear structures are incredibly delicate, and if you ignore your earwax build-up, it may start to affect your ability to hear clearly.