Do We Need to Clean Our Ears?

Do you need to clean your ears? That is a complicated question to answer. Simply put no. But at the same time yes. Your ears are self-cleaning which is very neat, but sometimes they do need a little help from you or better yet from your family doctor or hearing health professional.

Self-cleaning

Your ears are self-cleaning this is the reason for wax. Wax is produced to clean your ears, keep them moist and to ward off any foreign debris that may enter your ear. However, your ears may overproduce wax. If this is the case, your ear canal may become impacted or completely blocked with wax that has built up over time and it will need to be removed in order for you to hear properly. It is strongly recommended that you either see your hearing health professional or your family doctor to have the wax properly and professionally removed. This will ensure a decreased risk of infection, damage to your ear canal or damage to your eardrum such as perforation.

Causes of increased earwax

If you wear hearing aids, earplugs, earbuds or earmuffs you are more likely to produce more earwax than others because your ear senses a foreign body and is trying to get rid of it. This is normal but use care and caution when inserting earplugs, earbuds or hearing aids into your ears. Be sure to clean your hearing aids daily and to have them and your ears check regularly by your hearing health professional. If you use and wear reusable earplugs be sure to wipe them down daily and clean regularly to decrease the risk of wax build-up and possible infection in your ears. Do see your doctor or a hearing health professional to regularly check your ears for wax build-up. Remember also when inserting anything into your ear that your hands are clean as is item you are inserting into your ear.

Daily maintenance

When it comes to cleaning your ear, never stick anything in your ear that is smaller than your elbow. If you believe you have wax build-up in your ear see your family doctor or a hearing health professional and they will be able to help clean out your ear properly and safely. It is ok and safe to clean the outer part of your ear with your towel after a shower to help get rid of any dirt or debris. As for the ear canal, if you cannot see do not clean it. Have someone else help you out with that, like your family doctor or hearing health professional. Q-tips can be dangerous causing you to push wax further into your ear blocking or perforating your eardrum, so please do not use these to clean your ear.

If you do feel the need to clean your ears see your family doctor to hearing health professional otherwise stick to wiping clean your outer ear that you can see. Your ears self-clean so please let them do their job.