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Earwax

Cerumen (Latin name)

By Bjarne Lühr Hansen PhD, MD and Philipp Skafte-Holm MD, Mentor Institute

Earwax cleans your ear. You should never clean your ear with a cotton swab. Ear wax that closes the ear canal can cause hearing loss and pain. You can yourself dissolve the wax and rinse it off with an ear syringe.

Ear wax is composed of secretions from the ear canal glands. Earwax is slightly sticky, so that dust and other small foreign objects that come into your ear, runs out of the ear with the wax. In this way, it cleans the ear canal ear wax. Earwax is good for the ear canal and should not be washed away or otherwise removed. 

It is misunderstood hygiene to clean the ear canal with cotton swabs or the like. A cotton swab is stuffed into the ear canals will only remove earwax slightly, the majority of the wax is pushed further into the ear, and can form a lump of earwax. 

A lump of earwax, which closes the ear canal, will lead to hearing loss, tinnitus and pain.

Once the lump has been stuck for some time, it may cause eczema with itching and fluid that flows out of the ear. There may befall infection on top of the eczema and it can increase the pain.

What can you do?

Never clean the ear canal with a cotton swab. Visible earwax that has run out of the ear canal, can be removed with a wet cloth.
By bothersome earwax, you can buy ear drops at the pharmacy that dissolve the earwax. You can also buy an ear syringe and attempt to flush out the wax.

 

Contact the doctor tomorrow

Upon hearing loss and pain.

Contact the doctor immediately

Never necessary.