- Ear Wax
- Cerumen
Ear wax is a natural product made by the skin of our ear canals for protection. It's "medical name" is cerumen ("SEAR-oo-MEN"). Much like the oil our skin produces, it keeps skin lubricated and healthy.
Although many people are aware that excess ear wax can get impacted in ears and cause a mild hearing loss, the truth is that a lack of ear wax is a more aggravating problem that is associated with inflammation of the skin of the ear canal. This article discusses what normal cerumen, and problems with excess build-up as well as conditions in which cerumen is not made properly.
Sometimes that wax builds up and blocks the ear canal. If the canal is blocked completely, a temporary conductive hearing loss develops until the wax is removed. Most of the time, wax never builds up to a degree that causes a hearing loss because it is shed a little at a time out of our ears. Built-up ear wax can block the doctor's view of the ear drum and make an accurate diagnosis of an ear infection impossible.
Cerumen is always made by the OUTER HALF of the ear canal. That's one reason putting little cotton tipped applicators and bobby pins and such into the ear canal is a very bad idea. This move generally pushes some or all of the wax further in, rather than effectively removing it. Worse, this habit places the terribly delicate canal skin at major risk of injury. Any trauma inflicted by a well meaning but misguided amateur cerumen remover is prone to cause external otitis (swimmer's ear), and can even cause a perforated ear drum!
