We have to take care when cleaning our ears, but not in the way you think. The best thing to do is to leave our ears alone while they clean themselves. While it’s tempting to get a cotton wool bud and clean your ear canals yourself, ear wax is your body’s natural way to protect and clear your ears. By leaving the wax to naturally pass through, you can wipe away the wax when it clears your canals. Sometimes, ear wax can build up and start to muffle the hearing. It can sometimes harden and become impacted, leading to a blockage that causes more ear wax to become stuck. You can give ear wax a helping hand using some home remedies and massaging the ear wax out. However, you should know which tips are safe to use and which can end up making the problem worse.

Can you remove ear wax at home?

As long as you aren’t pushing the ear wax deeper in your ear, you can try to soften up the wax and remove yourself. There are over-the-counter ear drops that can help to clear stubborn ear wax and remove blockages. These can help reduce ear wax build ups and stop them from reaching a point where they affect your hearing or even lead to an infection. 

Ear drops

For small amounts of ear wax build ups, ear drops are effective at clearing the canals through softening and breaking down the wax. Ear drops that contain sodium carbonate gradually soften the wax, helping your ears to naturally pass the wax out. The drops get to work while you sleep. Adding a couple of drops into your ear canal before going to bed gives them the best opportunity to go to work. Inserting a small amount of cotton wool makes sure that the ear drops stay in your ear. It can sometimes be unsettling as you ear the ear drops reacting with the ear drops, but if you add them while about to go to sleep, they won’t affect your daily activities.

Irrigation

You can attempt to remove the ear wax using an ear irrigator. Only use this method if you’re positive that you don’t have a perforated eardrum. You can use water to clear out ear wax using a bulb-ended syringe. Once you have loosened the ear wax using ear drops or olive oil, you can squirt a small amount of warm water into the canal to flush out the wax. Saline solution also works well as it has anti-bacterial properties, helping to reduce the risk of an ear infection. 

Olive oil

It’s generally good practice to use olive oil drops if your ears block up with wax often. Oil drops soften the wax so it doesn’t become impacted. If you need to have ear wax removed, you’ll need to use olive oil drops before your appointment so that wax is suitably softened. 

How to massage the area around the ear

While you can’t use tools to reach into your canal and clean out the ear wax, you can still encourage a blockage to free up. A simple massage can assist and clear a bunged up canal, especially if you’ve used oil to soften up the ear wax already. Once you have inserted oil or drops, tip your head to the side. Place your finger at the base of your ear and slowly rub the area in circles. Opening and closing your jaw can also encourage the wax to shift. Pull down on your ear lobe as well to open your canals. Massages work best with oils and irrigation. 

When to have professional ear wax removal

While you can keep on top of ear wax build ups using home methods, sometimes its best to get professional help and advice before tackling treatment yourself. Our ears are incredibly sensitive and delicate so it’s important that you only try to remove the wax yourself if you know you have no underlying problems. If you are experiencing changes in your hearing as well as a blockage, having an audiologist assess your hearing and your ear health is essential. Ear wax could just be part of the problem. 

At Sussex Audiology Centre, we primarily use microsuction to clear ear wax. We do also use irrigation, but microsuction is the superior method for removing stubborn wax build ups. Microsuction uses a small vacuum that sucks up the wax in the canal. It’s a dry method which negates the likelihood of infections. If you have persistent ear wax blockage, microsuction is a quick, safe and comfortable procedure that will restore your hearing back to its normal state. 

If you wear hearing aids and ear wax is becoming a problem, you should see your audiologist. You may need to have your ears cleaned so that your hearing aid can properly get to work. To find out whether you need to have your ears cleaned, you can get in contact with any of our clinics. Need to have ear wax removed? You can book any appointment online.