Ear Wax Buildup: What You Need to Understand

Don’t neglect cleaning your ears. It’s difficult not to say that in your “parenting” voice. Maybe when you were a kid you even remember your parents telling you to do it. That’s the kind of memory that can remind you of simpler times as you wrap yourself in the nostalgia of childhood.

But it’s also excellent advice. Uncontrolled earwax buildup can cause a substantial number of issues, particularly for your hearing. And on top of that, earwax can harden up inside your ear and become really hard to clean. Bottom line, you’ll be best off keeping those ears clean.

Excessive earwax? Eww!

Earwax is, well, sort of gross. That’s a viewpoint that most individuals share. But it is actually essential for the health of your ears. Earwax is manufactured by glands inside of your ears and is then pushed out when you chew in order to keep your ears free of dirt and dust.

Essentially, the right amount of earwax can help keep your ears clean and healthy. It may seem strange, but earwax doesn’t indicate poor hygiene.

The problems begin when your ears generate too much earwax. And it can be fairly challenging to know if the amount of earwax being generated is healthy or too much.

What is the consequence of excess earwax?

So, what type of impact does excess earwax present? Earwax that gets out of hand and, over time, accumulates, can lead to several issues. Those issues include:

• Dizziness: Your inner ear is vital to your balance. So when excess ear wax causes your inner ear to get out of whack, your balance can be affected, causing dizziness.
• Earache: An earache is one of the most common symptoms of excess earwax. Sometimes, it doesn’t hurt that bad, and other times it can hurt a lot. This is normally a result of the earwax creating pressure somewhere it shouldn’t.
• Tinnitus: When you hear ringing or buzzing that isn’t actually there, you’re usually suffering from a condition known as tinnitus. Tinnitus symptoms can appear or get worse when earwax accumulates inside your ear.
• Infection: Infections can be the outcome of surplus earwax. If fluid accumulates, it can become trapped behind impacted earwax.

These are just a few. Ignored earwax can cause painful headaches. If you use hearing aids, excess earwax can impede them. So excessive earwax might make you think your hearing aids are having problems.

Can your hearing be affected by earwax?

The short answer is yes. One of the most typical issues associated with excess earwax is hearing loss. Normally producing a kind of conductive hearing loss, earwax builds up in the ear canal, stopping sound waves and vibrations from getting very far. Your hearing will typically go back to normal after the wax is cleaned out.

But if the buildup becomes severe, permanent damage can appear. The same is true of earwax-caused tinnitus. It’s usually temporary. But the longer the extra earwax sticks around (that is, the longer you disregard the symptoms), the bigger the risk of long-term damage.

Prevention, treatment, or both?

If you want to safeguard your hearing, then it makes sense to keep an eye on your earwax. It’s incorrect cleaning, not excess production that leads to buildup in most cases (for example, blockage is frequently a result of cotton swabs, which will push the earwax further in rather than removing it).

Frequently, the wax has gotten hard, dense, and unmovable without professional treatment. The sooner you get that help, the sooner you’ll be capable of hearing again (and the sooner you’ll be able to start cleaning your ears the correct way).