My mother always said to me you need to know how to clean your ears. So, “Don’t put anything smaller than your elbow inside your ear” Sadly, this advice was given to me after the day I found myself with a game piece wedged deep inside my ear canal when playing a game of travel battleships with my older brother, but that’s a whole other story for another day.
That’s why it is necessary to clean any build-up of excess ear wax; we do not recommend the use of cotton swabs/tips to clean the ears as they are a very delicate part of the body that can easily be damaged. The only time that you should use cotton tips is to safely remove any earwax from the “outside” of your ear canals only!
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Tips for Cleaning Your Ear
Here are some tips for cleaning your ears, what to do and not to do, and when you should go to the doctor.
Now if you are concerned about knowing that how to clean your ears safely and what are the precautions to clean them, here are our suggestions.
Some people do not clean their ears, nor do they need to, for most people, their ears already do a good job of cleaning themselves. Many people don’t know that our ears are self-cleaning. When we move our jaw open and closed, it helps to push the earwax from the inner ear canal to the outer ear canal, it then typically dries up and falls out.
Earwax acts like a natural filter for our ears to keep out dirt and dust. If we use cotton tips, we can push the wax back into the ear canal, which can lead to a build-up of wax and or infection plus you run the risk of rupturing the sensitive skin inside the ear or even worse, your eardrum.
Symptoms Of Impaction
If you have a build-up of wax in one or both of your ears, otherwise known as cerumen impaction, you may experience symptoms like:
- Pain or aching in the ear
- Blocked or a feeling of fullness in your ear
- Impaired Hearing
- Tinnitus, Ringing or Buzzing Sound in your ear
- Discomfort or Itching
- Smell or Discharge from the ear
- Dizziness
Let’s move forward and know about it a bit more.
Practices To Clean Your Ear
First, the preferable way to clean your ears is to go to your doctor. Your doctor can use special instruments, like a cerumen spoon, forceps, or suction device, or irrigation to clear the blockage. If your earwax build-up is not serious and you do not want to go to the doctor, then here are some methods you can try at home.
How to Clean Your Ears
The best method is simply to wipe your Ears with a clean, warm, damp cloth. Some people like to help soften the earwax with a few drops of hydrogen peroxide, baby oil, or glycerine. All pharmacies stock a range of over-the-counter wax removal kits, consult with your local pharmacist.
Things To Avoid
Don’t use sharp objects, cotton swabs, or anything else that may cause to injure your eardrum or damage your hearing forever.
When to Use Ear Candles?
In a word, never! Like cotton tips or any other small or pointy object, you should never use ear candles to clean your ears. Studies show they’re not effective, and further they can cause injury by way of occlusion of the ear canal which is a blockage, eardrum perforations, ear infections, facial burns, and temporary hearing loss
“Ear candling is not good,” Dr Christopher Brennan-Jones, senior research fellow at the Ear Science Institute Australia told The Huffington Post Australia He says “It’s proven to not work, so it offers no therapeutic benefit. It doesn’t soften the ear wax or remove it, and the hypothesis that the candle creates a negative pressure in the ear candle and that’s what sucks it out simply isn’t true.”
Earwax Softener
Many ear drops are used to soften the ear wax. These drops may be:
- Baby oil
- Mineral oil
- Peroxide
- Glycerine
- Saline
- Hydrogen Peroxide
Ear Wax Irrigation
You should not attempt to irrigate your ears when you have:
- Diabetes
- Tubes in the affected ear
- A perforated eardrum.
- A compromised immune system.
When To See Your Doctor?
You clean your ears at home and try different ear drops to cure your ear problems. But if the symptoms don’t change, then you must visit the doctor as early as possible. The healthcare provider consultation is a must If you have the symptoms of earwax blockage like:
- Reduced or muffled Hearing
- Feelings of fullness in the ear
- Earache or discomfort in the ear
Also, if you face earwax impaction more than once every year or have several risk factors, tell your doctor. You must have to schedule your routine for professional cleanings every 6 to 12 months.
Read also: What Causes Snoring?
How To Protect Your Ears?
In addition to ensuring your ears are kept clean, Here are a few more tips to practice for good ear health:
- Don’t insert small objects in your ear
- Limit loud noise
- Limit your use of headphones
- Keep your dry ears after swimming/bathing – our Macks Dry-n-Clear drops are the best ear-drying drops I’ve used! The Macks Ear Dryer is the best invention for keeping ear infections at bay and is perfect for use with children!
- Keep the volume of music down
How To Use Hydrogen Peroxide To Remove Earwax
Common Tips For Using Ear drops are discussed below,
- Lie down on your side, and one ear should face up.
- Read the instructions and then put the drops into your ear canal and fill it with fluid.
- Don’t stand for five minutes.
- Clean the outer ear with a tissue to absorb any liquid that comes out from the ear.
- Do this process for your other ear.
- You should never put an object into your ear to remove the wax. If you feel like wax remains in your ear and are experiencing discomfort, you should go to your doctor.
Wind Up
In this discussion, you may learn how to clean your ears and the effects of earwax; although earwax is produced naturally in our ears if it remains in our ears, it can cause severe blockage and affect hearing. It is easy to clean your ears at home, otherwise, seek the advice and help of your medical practitioner if you have any concerns.
A regular cleaning habit can save you from many upcoming severe issues. Start doing it on your own!
