Earwax Removal

Are you experiencing a plugged-up feeling in your ear? If so, you might have an earwax buildup. The good news is that it is pretty simple for us to treat.

Earwax Is Essential For Our Ears

Earwax is a bodily secretion known scientifically as cerumen. This substance has a variety of applications and protects the ear canal in various ways:

• Earwax acts as a barrier to dust and debris and provides an acidic, antibacterial, and antifungal environment in the ear canal, preventing the growth of potentially harmful germs.
• It protects the ear canal from overly dry or inflamed due to its hydrating characteristics.
• It forms a moisture barrier that keeps water out of the ear canal and lowers the risk of bacterial infections.
• It allows dead skin cells to be moved out of the ear canal.
• It repels insects naturally and acts as a sticky trap for any that gets in by accident.
  

What Causes Earwax To Accumulate?

The following are some of the most common reasons for earwax buildup:

• Excessive earwax production
• Dry earwax (common in older people).
• Cotton buds are inserted into the ear.
• Using earbuds/earplugs excessively.
  

Earwax impaction can cause temporary hearing loss, itching, discharge, and ear discomfort. You may also experience a fullness in your ear or the sensation of wearing earplugs. Impacted earwax is also a common cause of conductive hearing loss, and you may experience sound as muffled or lowered in volume.

How NOT to Remove Earwax

Cotton buds should never be used to remove earwax. You run the risk of injuring your ear canal or eardrum if you put something in your ear by accident. Every year, most people burst or perforate their eardrum by inserting cotton buds in it. The cotton bud may also push the earwax further into the ear.

Using ear candles to get rid of the earwax is also a bad idea. If you're unfamiliar with the procedure, it entails soaking a cloth tube in beeswax and inserting it into your ear. On the other end, it is then lit up. The method claims to use suction to pull the earwax out, but it is ineffective and can present a fire hazard.

Our Professional Earwax Removal

We offer several ways to remove earwax depending on the amount of impacted earwax and the condition of your ear canal.

Manual removal - We physically remove the wax with a series of professional tools called curettes.

Irrigation - We utilize an ear syringe or a jet irrigator to soften the impacted wax to inject water into the ear canal. Although ear irrigation is a painless technique, the water squirting about your ear canal may cause slight discomfort.

Microsuction - This method removes wax from your ear canal with the help of a binocular operating microscope and a medical low-pressure suction device.

If you're ready to remove that wax that has been bothering you, we're here to help! Contact us today to set up an earwax removal appointment.