While ear wax, or cerumen, is not many people’s favourite topic of conversation it is something that we all produce.

Why do we have ear wax?

Ear wax helps to keep our ears clean and healthy. It naturally makes its way out of the ear taking any dust or foreign bodies with it. Ear wax even has anti-fungal and antibacterial properties to help keep our ear canals healthy.

Why does ear wax build up?

You have narrow or hairy ear canals

You work in a dusty or dirty environment

You regularly wear hearing aids or use ear plugs

As we age wax hardens and it moves out of the canal less easily

How can we tell that ear wax is building up?

Discomfort and/or a blocked feeling in the ear canal

Itchy ear canals

Change in hearing

Tinnitus (ringing or buzzing sound)

Dizziness

Hearing aids sounding dull and/or regularly blocking up with wax

Why is excessive ear wax not a good thing?

If ear wax builds up too much it can completely block the ear canal, this can cause the symptoms outlined above. Excessive ear wax can also cause issues with hearing aids. In a Behind the Ear hearing aid where the mould is in the ear canal it can block up the sound bore which means you can no longer hear. In a hearing aid that has the speaker in the ear such as In the Ear and Receiver in the Ear Hearing aids the wax can damage the speaker resulting in repairs as well as blocking the sound bore.

What can you do?

If you have had a recent ear infection, ear surgery or a hole in your eardrum you should consult with your GP or ENT

Try using a drop of olive oil in each ear at night for several nights as it may loosen the wax

Make an appointment to have the wax removed

At Blackmore Audiology we are proud to be offering wax removal using micro suction and curetting, as Sara is a registered member of the New Zealand Audiological Society you are in good hands.