What is ear wax?
Wax is an important and natural secretion found in the ear. It keeps the ear canal lubricated and protects the ear against dust, dirt and bacteria, which helps to prevent infection.
What can go wrong with ear wax?
The wax in our ear can harden and irritate the walls of the ear canal. This can lead to pain or infection such as an outer ear infection. These are very red and painful and often have a discharge.
Sometimes, the wax will build up and block the ear canal. This leads to an uncomfortable fullness in the ear and muffled hearing. In some it can cause dizzyness as well.
What is done to clear ear wax?
Sometimes olive oil drops to soften the wax and allow it to clear will be trialled. If these do not succeed then ear wax needs to be irrigated out with water using a syringe to squirt warm water into the ear gently to flush it out. Olive oil can be used safely at any time.
What is the process of ear wax syringing like?
Before your doctor performs an ear wax syringe, they will want to have a look inside your ear to ensure that your symptoms are the result of excess ear wax build up or foreign materials and not something more serious.
Your doctor may diagnose excess ear wax by inserting an instrument called “otoscope” into the opening of your ear.
The otoscope shines a light into your ear and magnifies the image.
If wax build up is the issue, your doctor will perform the irrigation with a syringe like tool. This tool will be used to insert water or water and saline mixture into the ear to flush out the wax.
What are the risks and side effects of this procedure?
You may feel a slight discomfort from the water in the ear.
The water needs to be at room temperature. Water that is too hot or too cold can cause dizziness. Too hot water can also potentially burn the eardrum.
Sometimes the doctor may ask you to use ear wax softener for a couple of days prior to the syringing.
While it’s a relatively common procedure, there are risks associated with it.
Ear infections (otitis externa and otitis media) are one of the most common complications of ear irrigations.
Perforated eardrum. In some cases, ear syringing will press against the wax and make it more compacted. This makes it harder to remove the wax and may put more pressure on the eardrum, increasing the risk of perforation.
Vertigo (typically temporary)
Deafness which can be temporary or permanent
If the patient experiences symptoms such as pain, nausea and dizziness, you should stop immediately.
Will the wax come back?
Individuals with wax impaction may experience it again. Using regular olive oil or special wax drops may help reduce the recurrence. Ultimately, it might just be necessary to have syringing regularly.
Should I clean my ears?
Official medical advice is to never put anything in your ear smaller than your elbow. Without being able to see what you are poking you are very likely to make things worse; a cotton tip or bud is likely to scratch the ear canal, hit the drum and push wax further back into the ear canal. All are likely to make things worse.
