We spend our days using our hearing, but most of us don’t really know how to maintain and clean our ears properly. You might think that waxing your ears is part of personal hygiene and that the ears should be clean at all times. On the other hand, as much as earwax might make you feel dirty, it actually provides an important role to the outer canal. It offers protection and lubrication, serving it to stay supple and does not make you feel dry or itchy inside your ear. So how do you properly clean your ears then?

Forget Cotton Swabs

Having a certain amount of earwax plays an important role in protecting the outer ear from infection, and cleaning the ear with cotton swabs or other objects can end up doing more damage to your ears. It can cause problems by pushing the ear wax deeper into the ear canal, and up against the eardrum. Use cotton swabs only on the outside of your ears, or try wiping the outer area with damp wash cloth.

It is important to note that our ears are self-cleaning; old earwax will clear itself out of the ear canal due to the body’s natural movements, like moving your jaw, chewing or talking.

Try Earwax Softener

Earwax softener can help make for easier removal if you find that your ears are blocked with too much stubborn wax. Drops are a typical solution like mineral oil, baby oil, glycerin, peroxide, hydrogen peroxide, and saline. Place a cotton ball dipped with earwax softener into your ear canal, lean on your side with the cotton balled ear towards the ceiling. After 10-20 minutes, drain or rinse out your ear.

Flushing the Canal

If you experience that your ears are still blocked by earwax after the occasional use of mineral oil, schedule a doctor’s appointment. Your doctor will use a specialized tool to manually remove the earwax.
Your doctor could also use a non-needling syringe to flush your ear canal out using water. Ear flushing is less likely to irritate the ear canal, but could be risky to rupture the eardrum if performed too aggressively. That’s why it’s not advisable to manually remove or flush your earwax at home. Instead, leave these procedures to the professionals.

Irritated Ears Produce More Wax

If you find yourself with a lot of earwax, something else may be irritating your ears. You might be using your earbuds excessively, or you might have eczema, a skin condition like that’s affecting your ear canals. If this continues even with the occasional cleaning of earwax softeners after a month, visit your doctor.

If you’re unsure or hesitant to manually clean your ears, contact Beltone DFW at (888) 958-8432 or schedule an appointment with us online. Our professionals will gladly assist you with more helpful tips and consultation on cleaning your ears.