What is Ear Wax?
Ear wax is produced by the body to clean the ear canal. It collects fine particles of dust and debris that would otherwise reach the parts of the ear responsible for hearing, causing damage. Unfortunately, sometimes it can build up giving you an uncomfortable full feeling or affecting your hearing. Some of this build-up may also be due to environmental factors such as working in a dusty area.
What can we do to remove excess ear wax?
There are some products that can loosen the wax, allowing it to clear by itself. Visit us at Central Health Clinic our team of Sunshine Doctors can also help, we perform a procedure called aural toileting which safely removes the wax, and cleans and dries the ear canal.
What causes ear wax buildup?
Victorian Government Melbourne Health Department states that ear wax buildup is usually caused by:
- Working in a dusty environment
- Having narrow ear canals
- psoriasis and eczema
- Using cotton buds and your fingertips to clean inside the ear
- Hairy ear canals
- producing more wax
Safe ways to clean your ears and get rid of wax build-up
Warm water
Cleaning around and outside of your ears with warm water and a damp cloth is very effective. Using this method will prevent any damage to the ear canal and won’t push wax further into the ear if done carefully.
Olive oil
If you feel a build-up of wax in your ears, olive oil can be a natural and harmless way of getting rid of excessive wax build-up. Two to three drops to your ear can soften the wax, over time the wax will naturally fall out on its own.
What shouldn’t we do?
Using cotton buds is strongly discouraged as it can push wax debris further into the ear canal or if used too deeply, can injure the parts of the ear the wax is designed to protect. Using cotton buds can cause hearing problems as well as the possiblity of puncturing your eardrum, which causes sharp long-term hearing loss. Many try so hard to remove ear wax but what they don’t know is, it’s meant to be there! The wax is a natural substance that keeps your ears healthy, traps the dust from getting inside the ear, keeps bugs from crawling inside and also prevents fungus.
Visit one of our Sunshine GPs if you;
– are in pain,
– feel dizzy,
– have a headache,
– fever,
– have a discharge coming from the ear canal,
– have a head cold.
Please book an appointment with us here at Sunshine Medical Clinic at your earliest convenience.
