Earwax Buildup

WHEN TO SEE YOUR DOCTOR

* You are also experiencing pain or hearing loss.

What Your Symptom Is Telling You

Forget aesthetics: Earwax buildup in your outer ear is a healthy sign that your body has been busy making the right stuff to fend off ear canal invaders like bugs, infection and dirt.

Earwax buildup in your inner ear, however, has a different meaning: In most cases you've actually taken all that healthy earwax and stuffed it back into your ear with things like cotton swabs or earplugs.

"It's like putting a cork down in a bottle—messing up the whole process of the wax moving outward in a fluid motion," says W. Steven Pray, Ph.D., professor of pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford. "The wax begins to build up until you have a real nice plug in your ear close to the eardrum. The longer it's there before you get it taken care of, the harder and the thicker this plug gets."

How do know if you've developed earwax buildup in your inner ear? You may experience itching, dryness, slight pain or hearing loss, says Dr. Pray.

You may also experience earwax buildup if you were born with something called twisted ear canal. In that case, your ear canal has a gentle bend in it, making it more difficult for the wax to flow out, says Dr. Pray.

Symptom Relief

Beating earwax buildup is simply a matter of learning how to clean your ears properly. Try these techniques.

Don't stick anything in your ear. Rather than jamming your ear canal with cotton swabs, try this technique: Drape a damp washcloth over the end of your finger and wipe the entire outer ear, and only the outer ear. Earwax is fair game for removal only after it migrates out of the ear canal and into easy reach of your washcloth, says Dr. Pray. "Going deep into the ear is not something that should be done," he says. Make sure the washcloth isn't too wet or soapy—both water and soap in the ear canal can cause ear irritation or even an earache, says David Marty, M.D., a Jefferson, Missouri, otolaryngologist and author of The Ear Book.

Turn on the heat. The heat from an appropriately placed hot-water bottle can also help remove earwax, says Dr. Marty. Simply fill a hot-water bottle with warm water and lie on it, placing the affected ear right against the bottle. "In a short time, the wax begins to melt, allowing it to come out a little easier," says Dr. Marty.

Try an over-the-counter dissolver. Available at any drugstore, over-the-counter products like Auro, Debrox, E-R-O and Murine Ear Drops all contain carbamide peroxide, the active ingredient that helps dissolve earwax plugs, says Dr. Pray. Murine Ear Wax Removal System comes with an easy-to-use syringe that simplifies putting the drops in your ear, he says. Use the product as directed. If you don't get good results after using any of these products for about five days, see your doctor.

Advanced Earwax Busters

You can't do these on your own, but you can ask your doctor about the following techniques for removing earwax.

Use hydraulics. Some ear doctors and nurses use a Water-Pik-like device that shoots a thin stream of water to clean out earwax, says Charles P. Kimmelman, M.D., professor of otolaryngology at Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital. But don't try this at home using your own Water Pik. "I've actually seen perforations of the eardrum from that," he says.

Get the scoop. Some doctors use a small, specially designed scoop to remove stubborn earwax, says Dr. Pray.

Have a Hoover. If the plug still persists, you may ask your doctor to use a tiny medical vacuum to remove it. "It's a very mild device designed to gently pull the earwax out without damaging the eardrum," says Dr. Pray.